


Ouran High School Mafia Club

by cakeisthebesttype



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ouran High School Host Club, References to Ouran High School Host Club
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2018-12-12 11:17:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 29
Words: 84,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11735961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakeisthebesttype/pseuds/cakeisthebesttype
Summary: A story of two girls whose lives cross, or rather, crash together in the very grounds Ouran Academy.Hoshi Kamiya, a runner preparing for the Olympics,  also very clumsy falls into the very lap of the person who'd change her future. With a new friend and an old friend who crosses each other's paths, how will Hoshi ever know who to trust again?Koray Rikimaru, daughter of a well known Japanese mafia, has to learn how to become the heir to a life she was trying to escape. But with school, the host club and her new friend, Hoshi, pulling her in different directions, she often doesn't have time to think of her future. How will Koray ever follow the path she's desired for years?Two girls, one story line. Two twins, one host club. Two mafia's, both enemies. Two lives, one ending.





	1. Introductions

**Rikimaru Koray  **  
  
 **Name Meaning**  :   
  
(Last Name) Riki – Power and strength,   
Maru – perfection and seduce  
(First Name) Koray – Ember Moon  
  
 **Age** : 16  
 **  
Family** :  
  
Mother – Anya – means grace  
Father – Hisoka – means reserved  
Brother – Akio – means bright  
Uncle – Katashi – means hard and firm  
 **  
Status** : Mafia – the Rikimaru Dragon's League, her parents are the leaders of the mafia  
  
 **Personality** : To those who don't know her well she is closed off and passive, trying not to make conversation though she is not afraid to speak her own mind to strangers when necessary  
To those who know her – you'll have to read on to find out  
  
 **Looks** : white-blonde long hair, left eye is blue, right eye is green, she is somewhat short and has bigger boobs than some people, her build is strong because of mafia training though she is nowhere near athletic  
She tends to wear more black and white colour schemes though she does like the boho style too, leggings, skirts, tight dresses or flowing skirts, has an attachment to her leather jacket  
  
 **Likes** : cats, singing, fighting, motorbikes, coffee and a challenge  
 ****  
Dislikes: rude-indecent people, people who pry on her personal life, loudnoises, heights – in certain situations not involving adrenaline, maths and herparents/mafia

**  
Kamiya Hoshi **

**Name Meaning** :   
  
Kamiya: meaning divine valley  
Hoshi: meaning star  
 **  
Age** : 15  
 **  
Family** :   
  
Mother – Rai: meaning trust  
Father – Fudo: meaning God of fire and wisdom  
Sister – Yuko: meaning excellence  
 **  
Status** : mother is famous fashion designer, wealthy father  
  
 **Personality** : a mess, passive aggressive, clumsy, can be kind-hearted when she feels like it, sarcastic, lazy  
 **  
Looks** : shoulder length brown hair, green eyes, kinda tall, athletic build, skinny jeans, leggings or running shorts, generally wears block colour t-shirts and hoodies, has a few actually pretty clothes but hardly ever wears them  
  
 **Likes** : running, carrot cake, being right, sleeping, smoothies  
  
 **Dislikes** : Slow runners, javelin throwers, people who are rude to her friends, maths, overly fancy clothing, and people who are really sensitive


	2. 1 - A Rubbish Start

**Hoshi's PoV**  
  


I was late. Why was I always late? The doors of the school were almost within reach. I ran with my arms outstretched and just as I thought I'd made it, I slipped and landed painfully on the front steps. My bag flew out of my hand and all my school stuff flew out of it. Great. Apparently I'd forgotten to shut it. Again. My yellow dress was ripped down the sides from where I'd stepped on it and blood was dripping down my leg. I winced as I stood up and limped miserably over to the bag before beginning to repack it. The school bell rang. So much for not getting detention this term. And it was only the first day.

 

Five minutes later I was walking along the grand corridors of Ouran academy in an attempt to find my classroom. I really wished I'd payed attention during the admission ceremony. Or the school tour.Or when my best friend Anzu spent the entire holidays discussing this new school. I checked the paper I'd been given at the front desk that had the room number on it. The class was 1-C. whatever that meant.

Another ten minutes of searching that involved asking two teachers and five fellow students who turned out to be as lost as I was and I was finally standing in front of the classroom door. I took a deep breath and opened it.

 

"You must be Kamiya Hoshi. Please take your seat as class has already begun." The teacher standing at the front of the class was glaring at me with such ferocity that I felt that it was probably best not to argue.

I looked around the classroom for Anzu and was horrified to see that she wasn't there. No. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening.

 

"Miss Kamiya. I don't want to have to ask you again. Please take your seat next to Miss Rikimaru." 

 

I looked to where she was pointing and saw an angry looking girl with white hair and one blue eye and one green. She didn't even glance up when the teacher called her name. I awkwardly made my way through the desks to take my seat at the back. This was odd. Usually all the seats at the back of the classroom were taken quickly.

 

I slumped into the seat and turned to offer the girl next to me a weak smile. She ignored me. This was going to be a fun year.

 

I spent the rest of the morning in silence. The reason for the lack of back row sitters had become abundantly clear. Rikimaru was terrifying. She glared around the classroom in an almost unfeeling way. The few times she looked over at me, I shied away from her harsh facial expression.

 

When the bell signalling lunch rung, I gathered my things and sprinted out of the classroom. Even so, I could swear she was watching me the entire time. Especially when I tripped over the side of a desk and my foot landed in the bin. Ignoring the laughter from my fellow classmates, I continued my journey out of the classroom with the bin still firmly attached to my foot.

 

Anzu was waiting outside the classroom for me. She saw the bin but pretended not to notice. This was a gesture that I very much appreciated and one of the reasons why we were such good friends.

 

"How was your first class?" she asked me, while graciously ignoring me hopping around the corridor trying to extract the bin.

 

On the way to the canteen I told Anzu all about the terrifying Rikimaru.

 

 

** Koray's PoV **

 

This year won't start as bad as last year. I had thought so this morning. I was completely wrong and I had regretted any positivity I had had in my mind. I had walked into the pink school of rich Barbie's, I had worn the banana marshmallow dress but what made this all worse was not because I had double math this morning, it was the fact that I had to change classrooms from the top set of class 1-A to the bottom set, class 1-C, purely for my bad grades in math and science.

 

I had felt completely stupid as soon as I entered the classroom. The harsh teacher had greeted me as if I didn't know the word 'hello', and this was a math teacher?

 

My thoughts comforted me when I assumed I could handle this class if everyone left me alone. I had been to Lobelia Middle School after being home-schooled so my experience of people my age had never really been positive.   
  
Because I was new, everyone welcomed me in  the annoying way people do when they want something. All these kids were smart enough to make links with friends just for their families, so they all wanted to know where I came in. The only reason I liked having my last name, Rikimaru, is because it is dangerous, my whole family is dangerous. I was fine with that, I wasn't here to make links for my family. I was here to learn, keep a low profile, and because my mother told me I could travel to any place in the world if I graduated from this school with good enough grades. It was my dream to leave, even if it was for a short period of time, just to get out and see new ways of living.

 

I thought I was safe till an awkward girl with messed up hair, rush into the class, panting as she attempted to pat down the brown strands. The teacher, who had already started the introduction, impatiently told her to sit by me as everyone avoided the extra seat beside me. For the rest of the lesson I blanked her, hoping in my soul this would be over faster than I could blink.

 

Lunch was finally here and I was relieved. I escaped outside into the school's cherry blossom grove, it was such a warm day. I settled under a tree as petals fell around me, a quite serene scene. I opened my bag and pulled out a bagel, a comfort food of mine, and I closed my eyes and relaxed in the breeze. Till a few minutes later, a fierce kick took me off guard and a second later a body had fallen onto my lap. I was in shock for a few seconds before I realised who this was.

 

"Hoshi!" called a small voice, "Hoshi are you okay?" 

The girl from class 1-C slowly recovered and pushed herself up before realising she had landed on someone and not something.

 

"Oh my god, I am so sorry," she apologised, bowing her head while her cheek flushed bright pink. Her friend, who now stood beside her, giggled at her friends' embarrassment.

 

I pulled myself off the ground and looked at her grumpily, to which she cowered at, but I lightened my expression, feeling no need to be rude. "No harm done, it's no big deal. I needed to stay awake anyways."

 

After that, I turned on my heel and walked away to the main building where the bell, signalling the break was over, chimed out. I was glad to see that I would be in my rightful place the next period, and I had English with the top class 1-A.   
  
As I entered the room, everyone fell silent as whispered ensued, all of which I could hear. The news about my attitude had spread around the school and they all stood warily away from me. I searched the room for a spare seat, hoping to sit near the back, but my only chance was a seat beside a boy who smiled at me, encouraging my own weak smile with his wide brown eyes.

 

"I'm Fujioka Haruhi," he told me, "What's your name?"  
  
"Rikimaru Koray," I answered whilst taking my books out.  
  
"How come you missed the classes before? I haven't seen you around," Fujioka announced, trying to make friendly conversation. Though it was against everything I had thought before, my gut told me that this guy honestly found no significance in my last name, and was being friendly for sheer politeness, not for the gain of a family link.

 

"Well, I am new," I explain, "my classes are split up between the stupid and the smart."

 

"I didn't know that could happen, why not put you in the middle class?"

 

His questions pried a bit into my own personal business but it was like this guy had a friendly power over you that made you feel calmer. "My mother made a request. Can't have her daughter lower than the best. She tried to get me into 1-A math and science with a tutor, but the school knew that wasn't fair on me."  
  
"Wow, harsh," He mumbled.  
  
"It's normal," I sighed and attempted to stop speaking with him by folding my arms and leaning on them, looking towards the head of the classroom.

 

I soon sensed that my solitude would be disturbed even more when i felt two people stood behind us.

 

"Haruhi," a low voice asked, "who is your new friend?"

 

And then a similar voice,slightly higher in tone continued, "why don't you introduce us?"

 

I turned round to see identical, ginger twins with their arms around each other, standing uncomfortably close behind the poor Fujioka guy. I turned around and rolled my eyes at the twins before attempting to turn away as one of them put their hand under my chin.  
  
I heard girls in the classroom squeal at the sight of this. I scowled at the twin with their fringe parted to the right and swatted his hand away, cursing at him.

 

Fujioka turned to them with an angry expression and the twins smiled menacingly, their hazel eyes gleaming. "Don't mess with her, guys, seriously."  
  
"Why not?" the lower voice asked and winked at me flirtatiously, with I stuck my tongue out at.  
  
"We only want to be introduced," continued the other. The low voice belonged to the twin with the fringe parted to the right, the slightly higher tone belonged to the one with the fringe on the left. I assumed I may have to remember this information to tell them apart in case i had to report them for harassment.  
  
Fujioka deadpanned and sighed, looking at me and pointed at the right-side-fringe, "This is Hikaru," then to the left-side-fringe, "and this is Kaoru."

"We're the Hitachiin Brothers!" They both exclaim in unison, snaking one arm around each other their other arm in the air in celebration.

 

"Good for you," I deadpanned and folded my arms back on the table and rested my head on them.

 

Then Fujioka, after a few seconds between him and the twins exchanging harsh whispers, told them, "This is Rikimaru Koray, stop annoying her."

 

"Rikimaru," the right-side-fringe asked in shock. "You mean," the other continued, "You're the daughter of the Rikimaru Dragon League Mafia's Boss?"

 

I rolled my eyes but before any more interrogation, the teacher strolled in after being ten godforsaken minutes late, and instructed the brothers to take their seats. They did so grudgingly and the English lesson began.


	3. 2 - Running into Saddness

 

** Hoshi **

"I still can't believe you fell on her!"

I turned to give Anzu my most evil facial expression.

"Do you have to keep mentioning it? It's bad enough as it is."

Anzu laughed at me and I kicked her in the shin in an annoyed way. She was right though. Out of all the people at the school to fall into, it had to be Rikimaru didn't it? For some reason she hadn't been in class in the afternoon so I was spared the embarrassment of having to sit next to her after what happened. Even so...

"Do you have to do the welcome to Ouran project?"

"Huh?"

"Hoshi! listen! The project where we have to make a stall for the first Ouran student fair. Do you have to take part in it as well?"

I nodded. Oh yeah, the fair. And I'd just remembered who I was making the stall with. Rikimaru. I groaned leaned on Anzu miserably.

"Yeah we have to do it. Who are you in a group with?"

To my surprise, my friend blushed and looked down at the ground.

"Have you ever heard of the host club?"

"Yeah, I think so. My sister used to talk about them."

My big sister had graduated from Ouran the year before and had told me all about the school. I was really starting to wish I'd payed more attention. Or at least didn't have the memory span of a goldfish.

"Well, I got put with Hikaru Hitachiin!"

I frowned.

"Is he alright with you referring to him by his first name like that?"

"Yes. He said I could. And he's so handsome Hoshi."

I smiled. Anzu seemed happy so it was the least I could do to be excited for her.

"That sounds great! Does he have a brother?" I teased.

"Actually yes. An identical twin."

This took me by surprise.

"Really?"

She smirked at me.

"You want me to set you up. I probably could. I'm on great speaking terms with them."

I kind of doubted this as they'd only known each other for a day, but I didn't like to argue.

I smiled and shook my head. I didn't know who these people were and I definitely didn't want to be set up with one of them. I noticed that Anzu was giving me an odd look.

"What's wrong?"

"Aren't you suppose to be at athletics club?"

It took me a minute to register what she said.

"Oh no!! I'm sorry I have to go." I turned around and began sprinting back to school.

I arrived at the athletic field ten minutes late. I'd gotten changed in some public toilets on the way, so I was already wearing my school issue PE kit complete with yellow shorts and a pink top. not exactly stylish but it could be worse.

"I'm so sorry Shimizu-sensei." I apologised, bowing to my athletic coach. He frowned at me and glanced at my shoes. I looked down as well. I was wearing one trainer and one school shoe. Oops. Shimizu-semsei didn't look impressed.

"You should be sorry. Speaking to that friend of yours no doubt. What's her name again?"

"Tachibana Anzu, sir."

"Well you can tell her that she will be doing detention for a week to compensate for your lateness."

"But, sir! It wasn't Anzu's fault. She was the one who reminded me about..."

"SILENCE!! Don't think you're getting away from this either. I will expect to see you in detention as well. Now go and get warmed up."

I wanted to argue for Anzu some more, but knew it would be no good.

"Yes, sir."

I made my way to the track and began jogging around the outside lane. My anger at the injustice that Anzu was going to receive from Shimizu-sensei fueled my running and I was soon sprinting without any desire to slow down. I could hear Shimizu-sensei yelling at me to slow down, but I ignored him. I wanted to run. I needed to run. This was what I was good at. This was my future. I had to keep practicing so that I could go the Olympics next year.

I finished my warm up and stopped in front of Shimizu-sensei. He watched me meticulously as I went through my warm-up. Half way through he motioned for me to stop and talk to him. I walked over somewhat nervously and stood in front of him.

"I expect great things from you Miss Kamiya. The Olympic tryouts are in a months time. Don't forget and don't be late. You can definitely win."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." I bowed awkwardly, but he just walked away.

The rest of the club time went by without a hitch. I beat a few of my personal best scores in the the 400 metres and was making real progress with the 800 metres. All in all, I was pretty happy with myself when I left the track. That was until I saw a certain someone walking by them self along the pavement outside the school gates.

"Hey! Rikimaru-San! Wait for me!"

She turned around. Scowled and continued walking. I frowned, confused and hurt. She'd been nice to me earlier when I'd fallen on her. Why was she being so cold now? I watched her retreating back with a feeling of complete misery. I was stuck with her for a year and we were going to have to start the project soon.

Deciding not to be discouraged, I began jogging home. I had a limo of course, but it was good to get a bit of practice in whenever I had the opportunity. Running was the only thing I had any talent in so I wasn't going to give up on it easily. As I ran past Rikimaru I noticed that there were tears running down her face. I slowed, about to ask her what was wrong, but she was on the phone and didn't look like she wanted to be disturbed. Silently I ran on.

** Koray **

"I know it may not be your kind of thing, Koray," my new friend Haruhi told me, "but you should come to the Host Club today. It may be some fun, most people there are quite over-dramatic but at least there'll be someone sane to talk to."  
  
"How'd you already manage to be in a club?" I asked him, "Wait, if you're an honour student how can you have the time to be in a club?"

We walked along the corridor of the academy after the last class of the day had ended. Haruhi and I bonded quite quickly and to be honest, it made me feel happy to have at least one friend. Haruhi had made no reaction to what the twins had said about my family, I guess Haruhi just wasn't judgemental.   
  
"Long story short, I owe them money which i'm paying back by being a host," he rolled his eyes, "And it was during the induction week, during the summer, which I'm assuming you didn't attend?"  
  
I sighed and looked to the ground, "I was dealing with mafia stuff. Me and my brother have to miss a lot of school for the mafia."  
  
"Does your brother go to Ouran?" Haruhi asked, "Would he have n opninion of the host club?"  
  
"Nah, he left school 3 years ago," I looked to the ground, "He left early when he became of age."  
  
Haruhi nodded and we carried on down the corridor, "So does that mean being the heir is a pretty big deal?"  
  
I scoffed, "Oh god yeah. Stupid too. I'd rather it was him then me, though it neer would be anyway seeing as im the youngest...and a girl."  
  
"They still judge you on your gender for being the heir?"  
  
"Well, kinda, they don't need to judge me on being the heir anway because im the youngest."  
  
Haruhi nodded again. "So will you ome to the club today and keep me sane? It's full of rich jerks."

I smiled slightly, and checked my phone quickly to see a missed call. "Depends, I might drop by. Where is it?"

"Music room 3," Haruhi smirked, "I really like you, Koray. You're the first person to treat me as any normal girl in highschool."

That took me by surprise. "Girl? Wait a second, what?!" Haruhi's facial expression gave it away, "How did I not see that?!"

"Keep your voice down though, no one's suppose to know," Haruhi sighed and laughed at the comment about the twins before realising, "Hey, how am I  _not_  a hot guy!"

"Well," I sighed after laughing, "for starters, you are not  _a guy_. How come no one's allowed to know?"

"The Host Club," she blamed, as if that was self-explanatory, "Because I  can't be a host if I'm a girl and I can't pay them back if I'm not."  
  
"Didn't they know you were a girl when you came here?" I was confused, "Did they  _force_  you to be a boy? Didn't anyone notice?"  
  
Haruhi laughed at my sudden investment in her story. "Everyone in the school thought i was a boy during the induction. I looked a bit of a mess, I assumed everyone thought that I must have been a guy."

"Wow," I  chuckled, "I'll keep this to myself, I promise. This club sounds extremely dodgy, though, I have to witness it. I'll just take this call and see if I can make it."

"See you later then," Haruhi laughs and walks away.

I wave her away, chuckling to myself before returning my attention to my phone. Why did my uncle call me during school? I made my way outside, into the school grounds. I re-dialled his number and he picked up within seconds.

"Koray," he sounded rough, "Why didn't you pick up?"

"I was in school remember?"

"I have news for you," he mumbled, he voice was worrying, my uncle never sounded like this.

"What is it?" I whispered harshly.

"Your brother was killed. In Italy. The body cannot be returned."

"Wait, what?" I stuttered, "Killed?" I had reached the school gates where students were crowding round to get home. It made me so dizzy trying to get out of it. A tear fell down my face. Across the way I saw Kamiya, happily walking home. She looked so care-free, I wish I could be as free as that. I wish I were that free, I wouldn't have to be in danger like my brother was. We exchanged eye contact, but I quickly snapped my head away as more tears fell.

"I cannot explain anymore. It is very messy here at home. It's best you go to a friends house until things clear up here, you're mother is very angry. Stay safe, Koray."

"Thank you, Uncle." We both hung up. I had circled round the school and came back to the entrance. I wavered there for a moment. Clearing my head. I made my way back into school and waved through the snaking, pink corridors. I needed to take my mind off of my brother. Another tear slipped down. Forget Akio.  
  
Soon enough, there before me, were the doors to music room 3. The place Haruhi recommended. The place I heard non-stop whispers about all day. I opened the door.


	4. 3 - Why do you have so many princesses you whore?

** Hoshi **

  
The doors were open when I got home. This was strange as my dad didn't usually like to have any reminder of open spaces in the house. He hadn't been the same since he came back from the war. I still wasn't sure which one. Whenever I brought up the subject he refused to speak to me for the rest of the day. As I approached the house I thought I caught the smell of burning. Startled, I ran through the open front door and up the stairs. My dad was sitting in the hallway, crying. He raised his head when I got to him and I could see the look of apology in his eyes.

 

"Where's mum?" I couldn't see her anywhere, so I guessed she was still at work. My dad sobbed again so I guessed I was right. My mum worked in the fashion industry and had recently found a new business partner who went by the name of Hitachiin. Because of this she was often working late. It wasn't doing my dad any good as the servants were mostly nervous of him and didn't like to confront him.

 

"What happened dad?" I asked gently, putting my hand on his shoulder. He flinched slightly, but didn't move away.

 

"They broke in. I don't know what they took. The door! Why's it open? Close the door Hoshi!"

 

A servant who'd been watching us, hurried down the stairs to close the door. We both watched her go before I turned back to my dad.

 

"Who broke in dad? Did you see?"

 

He made a strange squeaking sound and buried his head in his hands. I could hear him murmuring but couldn't quite catch what he was saying.

 

"What was that dad?"

 

"THE DRAGONS! IT WAS THE DRAGONS!" He began shaking and crying again.

 

I helped him back to his room before wandering along to the library to do my homework. A maid stopped me before I reached it however.

 

"You can't go in there Miss Kamiya. The dragons took some of the books and completely trashed the place." She looked down and cleared her throat. "That wasn't all they took, Miss Kamiya."

 

I gasped. They couldn't have. Not that. I pushed past and her and raced towards the fancy double doors of the library, ignoring the maid's panicked shouts of protest.

 

The place was a mess. Bookshelves had been dragged down and paper was strewn everywhere. I didn't care about that however, and instead picked my way through what could only be described as a book battlefield. The paper - dead bodies, the whole books - survivors. My mum would mourn them when she got home.

 

I reached the very back of the large, circular room, and looked at the empty space on the wall in front of me. The painting was gone. I could feel tears rolling down my face, but I didn't care. I turned around and began to slowly walk out of the library. The maid attempted to stop me, comfort me. But I didn't want her sympathy.

My bedroom was on the top floor of the house and by the time I'd reached it the tears had stopped and I just felt numb and hopeless. That painting had been everything. My link to them. And now it was gone.

I collapsed on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and took it out to see a message from Anzu asking if I wanted her to help me with my maths homework. She also seemed very excited about visiting something called the Host club. Apparently Hikaru was part of the club and they'd spoken the whole time.

 

I didn't particularly want to see anyone, but I couldn't bring myself to worry her. I texted back to say that it would be alright and quickly rushed to make myself look presentable.

 

It didn't take long before I saw her limo pull up in front of the house and watched her being let into the house by a doorman. I waited for a couple of minutes before the door opened and she walked in. the maid who had escorted her bowed and walked away. Anzu looked confused and I couldn't blame her.

 

"Why was I escorted? I know my way around."

 

"There was an incident, but it's under control now." I tried to look dignified, but failed as I tripped on the edge of the bed. Anzu laughed and I managed a slight smile, deciding that inviting Anzu had been a good idea. We settled down to begin work on the maths and I finally began to feel a bit better. Whoever those people were, I'd find them. I might not be the smartest of people. But I could hire people that were.

 

"So, Anzu. Tell me about this host club."

 

 

** Koray **

 

I peeled off a stray rose petal from my mouth after a moment. I was literally attacked by rose petals entering the supposed "music room #3" which was being used for anything but practicing music.

Tables were set out with matching chairs and sofas and coffee tables matching the yellow-pink-blue theme of the school. Groups of girls sat round the tables surrounding a guy or two, the girls either squealing or noisily chatting.

 

Just as I was about to turn away to leave before anyone saw me, Haruhi walked over, smiling. "Koray, I'm glad you could make it." She said in her 'I'm a real boy now' voice she used around people.

 

"Er, yeah, so am I?" I stuttered, watching a tall, blonde guy, catching a fainting girl, calling her his princess before another cried, to which he called her his princess too. "I guess." I muttered bluntly.

 

I hear whispers around the room, "oh my, it's Rikimaru", "what's she doing in the Host club?", "she's dangerous, why is she allowed in here" to which Haruhi ignored, "would you like to join me?"

 

"Er, sure," But before I could join her at her sofa, the twins appeared out of no where.

 

"Ah, Rikimaru, what brings you here?" They asked mischievously in unison.

 

"My legs," I replied flatly, "which I'm now using to walk away." But as I turned around, I bumped into a small, blonde boy with such big eyes, around my height, carrying a pink stuffed rabbit.

 

"Ach! I apologise!" I bow instinctively at the small boy.

 

I look up and he beams at me with childlike smile, he reminded me of my little cousin, Misa, who had that same blonde hair. Though she was only seven, and i doubted this boy was svee, why was he wearing a high school uniform?

 

"That's okay!" He squealed in a childish voice, then seriously said "Rikimaru, Koray of the Rikimaru Dragon League Mafia, right?"

 

I nod slowly, not denying or agreeing to anything.

 

"Cool!" He smiles, "do you like cake?" I heard a round of awes from the surrounding girls. Taken back, I hesitate before smiling, but before I could answer I was spun around almost off my feet, then caught in a pair of arms.

 

I looked up into a pair of vibrant violet eyes, and a smile who could surely win any girls heart, but whoever this was just freaked me the hell out.

 

"What brings you to the Host club, my Princess?" The blonde guy from before asks me charmingly, steadying me and kissing my hand.

 

"WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MANY PRINCESSES, YOU WHORE?!"I yell at him and then instinctively, I swatted him away.

 

Then I clamp my hand over my swearing mouth, half-dying of showing the personality i had around my brother.

 

The tall blonde guy stood there, stone still for a moment before he suddenly squatted down facing a corner of the room, a depressing aura flowing around him.

 

After a moment I leaned over to Haruhi, "Is he alright?" I questioned.

 

Haruhi rolls her big eyes and nods, "All the time, you get used to it. So, would you like a cup of tea?"

 

I laughed for a moment, unsure of the situation. This place seemed so surreal to the reality of my family.

 

Suddenly two arms held my waist, as each ginger twin stood at either side of me. "May I help you?" I mutter, trying not to laugh at myself.

 

"You know," the lower voice said.

 

"You put the boss in his corner faster than anyone." Said the other.

 

"Nice job!" Both twins smiled holding up two thumbs up.

 

I roll my eyes but felt an overwhelming feeling of grief overcoming me. "Nice to know. On second thoughts, it seems you are all busy and I myself have business to attend to." 

 

As I turned to walk away, the tall guy with glasses and a stone cold stare spoke, "You mean your for the funeral?"

 

"Excuse me?" I ask.

 

"Your brother was killed under 48 hours ago, am I correct?"

"Kyoya-Senpai, that is incredibly insensitive!" Defends Haruhi.

 

I walk slowly towards the glasses guy, grabbing his pen and breaking it in half. "Y-How the hell do you know about that?!"  
  
"I am notified about any information on students who attend the host club," he remarked like a smartass.  
  
"I've never even been here before!"  
  
"I was told you were coming and got your information to be prepared," he said innocently, lowering his book and getting another pen out of his pocket. His glasses gleamed patronisingly.  
  
Tamaki had appeared from his corner, "Kyoya, I think you should apologise-"  
  
"You soulless bastard," I remarked as he showed no sign of emotion to my aggression. 

 

"Koray, I am so sorry," Haruhi starts.

 

I take a step in the doorway, "I'll see you tomorrow." 

 

My footsteps pounded against the corridors as I fled the school. Who the hell did that guy think he is? How did he even know about my brother when even I had just been told? "Stupid souless rich people!" I swear aloud.

 

I realised that I couldn't go home till everyone was asleep or at least away for the night. That meant I had to deal with everyone, my mother, the mafia. I could  be the next leader of the Rikimaru Dragon League Mafia now that my brother had been killed. It was not a position I had ever wanted to fill. 

 

Instead of walking home, I went to the one place I knew I could go, 'The Pisces Bar'. Where I stayed for the start of the night, expressing my thoughts to Ryou, the bartender, who listened to every word. He knew my brother, I hardly went to the bar while he was away. But now he's away forever.

 

I stayed there till the early hour of two in the morning and Ryou had stayed with me, talking me out of getting extremely drunk. In the end i got as drunk as i could till he stopped me, and then he kept pouring coffee into me till he walked me home. Half-way i told him to leave me alone, quite rudely, but i didn't care at that point.   
  
At some point along the way I was attacked and left in an alley-way but i got the message those men were trying to send, and I'm pretty sure they had mixed signals about what the issue they were addressing was.  
  
I crept past past security like I always did and went into my brother's room and slept in his bed, crying my eyes out into the early hours of the morning with a pounding headache.


	5. 4 - Rejection

** Hoshi **

 

The next day at school, Rikimaru wasn't there. Her seat was resolutely empty when I entered the room and remained so for the entirety of the morning. It wasn't that I appreciated her company - and to be honest I was actually quite relieved that she wasn't sitting there glaring at me - but I was worried. She had seemed really upset after school yesterday and I hoped she was alright.

 

At lunch Anzu told me not to worry, but I couldn't help it. I had no idea where she lived, but I was planning to find out and visit her after school. Just to check.

 

It turned out that I didn't have to, however. After lunch, there she was. Sitting in her seat next to mine and staring out of the window. I actually forgot that we don't usually speak and ran to the back of the room, laughing.

 

"You're back! Are you alright? What happened?" I was so excited to see her that it took me a minute to register the state of her forehead. A deep gash ran along the hairline, stitched together with haphazard stitches that looked like she'd sewn them herself.

 

"My absence has nothing to do with you. Why are you even speaking to me?"

 

The iciness in her voice caught me off guard. I knew that we weren't exactly best friends, but there was no need to be rude. She wasn't the only one who was hurting right now. I thought about the stolen painting and tears threatened to pour from my eyes.

 

Her head though. She needed to see someone who could properly treat it.

 

"You need to go to the medical room. I'll go with you."

 

She glared at me.

 

"I don't need your help, thanks."

 

"Like it or not you're getting it." And with that I grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the classroom.

 

As someone who was constantly tripping, I was always fully acquainted with the school medical room. No matter what school it might be. Rikimaru was trailing behind me, refusing to speak. I left her to her thoughts and instead walked into the medical room and lead her to one of the beds.

 

"The nurse should be around somewhere. Do you want me to find her for you?"

 

She appeared to force a smile when she looked at me again.

 

"No, it's fine. You go back to class. I'll be fine."

 

I hesitated, not sure whether I should stay or not. But she waved her hand in a dismissive way, so I turned and walked back to class.

 

After school I was debating whether to go home or to the running track when someone ran into me and wrapped their arms around me in a crushing hug, squealing excitedly.

 

"Hey Anzu."

 

"Hoshi! I need your help!"

 

"What is it?" I was trying to sound excited, but wasn't sure is I was achieving this. I was still thinking about Rikimaru.

 

"I'm going to ask out Hikaru!"

 

"WHAT!?" Now she had my full attention.

 

"Hikaru! I'm going to ask him out. And I need you to be there for moral support."

 

I was about to say no. I had to interview some detectives later and I really needed to clear my head. But, well, drama!

 

"Sure. So, where is he?"

 

"The Host club. Let's go!" She grabbed my arm and began dragging me along behind her. I was almost an Olympic athlete, but even I had trouble keeping up with Anzu when she was in a mission.

 

A couple of minutes later we were standing in front of a pair of double doors in the music corridor. Anzu breathed in slowly before exhaling through her nose.

 

"Alright. Let's do this." And she reached forwards and pushed open the doors.

 

The host club wasn't what I was expecting. There were a few tables and each of them had one or two handsome boys sitting at it talking to a group of girls. There was cake piled up on a table to my right, and most surprisingly, I could see Rikimaru standing in a corner glaring at a guy in glasses who was attempting to speak to her. A short haired boy was watching them from the table he was sitting at with a worried expression on his face.

 

Anzu walked towards the cake table and began to put as many slices of cake as she could onto her plate. I watched her but said nothing. Anzu always ate when she was stressed and it was usually better to stay out of the way.

 

"Hello, Anzu-chan." A small boy with blonde hair was standing behind us. He didn't look like he was older than ten, but the ouran uniform was for a highschool student and I was pretty sure that he wasn't in our year. Which meant that he was older than us.

 

"Hey, Hunny-sempai!" Anzu had turned around and was addressing the boy.

 

"Who's this? I've never seen her before."

 

It took me a minute to realise that he was referring to me.

 

"The is my friend Kamiya Hoshi." Anzu introduced me smiling.

 

Hunny turned to me and grinned cheerfully.

 

"Hello Kamiya Hoshi! Is it alright if I call you Hoshi-chan?"

 

"Sure, I don't see why not."

 

"Yay! So what's your type?"

 

I looked at him for a minute before turning towards the cake table and reaching my hand towards a cake at the back.

 

"Carrot." I whispered.

 

Anzu burst out laughing, and Hunny soon joined in.

 

"It was nice meeting you Hoshi-chan," he smiled. Before grabbing a whole cake and walking back to his table with it.

 

We waited by the table until the club was over and all the other girls had left. Suddenly Anzu cleared her throat and nodded at me. I gave her a thumbs up and went back to eating my 5th piece of Carrot cake.

I watched Anzu cross the room and begin to talk to a pair of ginger twins. She seemed to be doing alright and I was about to leave when I heard what sounded like crying. I watched in horror as my best friend ran out of the room sobbing. The twins watched her go smirking.

 

I crossed the room in anger, and before they had even registered my arrival, I had slapped them both and walked out of the door.

 

I passed Rikimaru on my way out. She looked confused by my angry face, but this time I was the one who ignored her.

 

 

** Koray **

 

This morning had been a hell ride, just like yesterday had been. Have you ever had one of those mornings where you wake up in the morning in someone else's bed not knowing what happened the night before? And your only souvenir is a big, bloody gash on your forehead; not fun, believe me.

 

It was hard enough telling my mother where I had been the whole night; I also had to explain where I'd gotten the gash from. If she ever found out that I had been to the Pisces Bar again she'd hold me in lockdown. I dished a lie out to her  that I got jumped by our enemies, the Ketsueki Samejima, because they thought i was weak now my brother was dead, telling her i had fought back. My father looked impressed and congratulated me though his eyes were glazed over. My mother wasn't too sure, she knew i wasn't amazing at fighting, but i was at least better than my brother.  
  
When I tried to ask about my brother, and why his body couldn't be returned, my mother grew angry and my father just left the room. She told me we'd behaving a small ceremony to mark his death on Saturday and left it there, no mention of a funeral, I guessed we were waiting to get the body from Italy.

 

To make do, I stuck haphazard stitches to close the gash temporarily so I could just get to school. I got to the academy and slumped in my seat as soon as the bell rung signalling lunch was over.

 

There in that moment, the strangest thing happened, that girl who sat beside me in class, the one who fell on my lap yesterday, ran up to me looking extremely happy to see me. Her eyes filled with concern when she saw my forehead, she insisted I went to the nurse, I was reluctant at first because I hate anything to do with medicals, but as ridiculously as she was treating me, I just let her take me there.

I gave her no encouragement to stay; after all, I already owe her for her kindness of the nurse visit so she left me to be fussed over by the nurse, who treated me if she was detonating a bomb. She was scared to treat a kid from a gang and I knew it, her hands were shaking, she kept apologising, it wasn't like I looked scary, scary looking meant that guy from one of those other gangs, the guy with the red hair; he was the definition of scary.

 

Math class was almost over when I returned; I thanked Kamiya for her help grudgingly and sat silently for the rest of the lesson occasionally mumbling how stupid math was. The end of the school day approached quickly so I headed down the corridor towards the host club, for my new friend Haruhi's sanity, as well as giving that Kyoya guy a piece of my mind, more than I did yesterday.

 

The rose petals attacked me once again as I entered the supposed music room and made my way over to greet Haruhi who sat at her couch alone. She told me to sit and have at least one cup of tea before putting my hands anywhere near Kyoya's throat. I drained the tea quickly and then made my way towards Kyoya who stood in front of a window, spectating his domain.

 

"Ootori," I greet half-heartedly.

 

"Kyoya's fine enough," he insisted grudgingly, not looking up from his little black book.

 

"Ootori," I continue, as this was a serious discussion, he looked up to what I thought was meeting my eyes.

 

"Just what exact information do you have about me in there?"

 

I saw a small smirk play across his lips which angered me. "Most of it. It wasn't hard to gather this information."

 

"Keep it confidential, to all host members. I know exactly who you are as well, and who can work for you. I don't need any shit from you and you don't need any from me is that a good enough deal for you?" I heard Hunny's laughter fill the open room and calmed myself. "I already have the Ketsueki Samejima to deal with, I don't need the Ootori private police on my back again, I still want an apology about that."

 

"That's what they did to you I'm guessing?" he gestured to the gash on my head, which was from the apparent attack yesterday. I remembered this morning that the Ootori police tried to speak to me, waiting till i had left the bar, to warn me away from Kyoya and I must've drunkenly said something bad that resulted in an attack.  
  
"I may have drunkenly said something," I told him, "But the police shouldn't attack people."

 

"I'll have a word with them about that, I'm guessing it was because of what happened yesterday." I sighed and leaned against the wall beside him, he seemed to be less of a jerk than yesterday.   
  
"This ought to be interesting," he hinted towards Kamiya's friend from the other day, as pink as the school, eyes hidden by a wall of fringe, nervously stuttering to Hikaru, who looked at her blankly. I watched as he sniggered at her face, and taking up an act of brotherly love with Kaoru who had appeared at his side. Kimiya's friend started to cry and ended up running out the room sobbing, whatever Hikaru had said was definitely heartless and cruel.

 

Kamiya stormed over and slapped both of the  twins and then glared at me and Kyoya before running after her heartbroken friend.

 

I saw Kyoya smirk a little but I put him in his place. "You think that was funny?"

"It seems like Hikaru still has a lot to learn from this club, " he sighed, hiding any trace of amusement.

I stormed over to red-headed twin who wore a roguish expression.

 

"What the hell did you do to that poor girl?" I demand, surprised by my outrage on Kamiya's behalf.

 

"Told her the truth," Kaoru put in, defending his brother.

 

Hikaru winked a mischievous eye, "Its not like she actually thought it could happen, right? It's obvious, especially when I'm part of the host club."

 

"Oh, I see," I replied coldly, "You think that because you're part of the host club you can just deny and put down a girl so cruelly? Her favourite part of the day could have actually been seeing you?"

 

"Pretty much," he replied, bored.

 

"Well, let me tell you, pretty boy," I hiss as I get closer to him, "You are not a real gentleman of this so-called host club if you treat a girl in that way. You chose to promote your  _brotherly love_  act from a girl's heartfelt gesture? Would it hurt your precious ego even slightly to actually use that brain of yours to think of a way to turn her down lightly?" I saw Hikaru's eyes fire up but I was far from finished. "I literally met you and this club yesterday. Hell, I just met  _Tamaki-senpai_ yesterday and he may be a fumbling idiot," Tamaki yelled over with offence but I continued, "but at least he acts like a gentleman, something that you'll never be. So from what I've seen so far, you better get your head out your ass and actually think for once!"

 

I didn't know what to do once I had finished, my breathing was heavy and I was too hyped up to back down. I felt the eyes of every girl in the room bore into me once I realised they were still in here.

 

"She's right, Hikaru," Tamaki came up beside me, he sounded like a completely different person when being serious. So much different from the idiot I had met yesterday. "That was not gentlemanly behaviour, I thought better of you."

 

Knowing that this was now in the hands of the hosts, I left the room in search of Kamiya and her friend, thinking if I could offer any help or support, then maybe I'd be able to make friends out of them. That'd make the project we'd have to do together a bit less stressful.


	6. 5 - The Smoothie Bar

** Hoshi **

 

I found Anzu sitting by a fountain in the gardens. She was crying miserably, with her head in her hands. I approached warily - Anzu could become quite aggressive when she was upset - and sat down beside her.

 

"Hey."

 

She raised her head out of her hands and looked over at me. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her hair was a mess.

 

"Hey, Hoshi" She tried to smile, but a pitiful sob erupted from her instead, and she buried her face back into her hands.

 

"Oh God, Anzu! It isn't that bad, I promise." I half hugged her and heard her sniffle.

 

"They were horrible. They laughed at me and called me a bitch when I lost their game! I thought he was different. I thought I could finally get over Gaito!"

 

Ah yes. Gaito. Anzu's first boyfriend. He'd been the guy everyone had wanted to date in middle school. When he asked out Anzu she had been ecstatic. And everyone else had been surprised. At first it had seemed as though they were the perfect couple. They were always going on dates and they spent most of their free time together. It had gotten to the point where I was starting to feel a little left out.

But then their relationship had started to turn sour. He never returned her calls. They stopped going on dates, and he never turned up for school. Anzu became more and more upset. And then it happened. The news report. Gaito's body was found in a canal in the west side of the city.

 

Anzu was distraught. She thought he'd left her. That he was cheating. Not that he was dead. His family were out of town, so Anzu was called in to identify the body, and I went with her. It was awful to see someone I knew so well lying motionless on that metal table. But even worse than that was his stomach. I'd been dragged along to the pool with him and Anzu a few times and he'd always made a point to show off how smooth and flat his stomach was. I thought it was bit odd, but Anzu found it funny.

 

Now instead of smooth skin, there was a disgusting mark that looked as though it had been burned into the skin. The mark was a dragon with its wings spread and it's jaws open.

 

"Hoshi! Are you still listening?" Anzu was staring at me, and I realised that I'd been picking out the thread on the sleeve of my dress. It was now ripped most of the way along my wrist.

 

"Sorry. I was thinking about something..." I trailed off when I noticed someone walking over towards us. It took me a minute to realise that it was Rikimaru. She looked incredibly awkward and gave us a small wave when she got closer.

 

Anzu quickly wiped her eyes and began attempting to reapply her makeup, which had gotten smudged. I smiled and waved back.

 

"Are you alright?" Rikimaru directed the question at Anzu, who blinked a couple of times before she nodded.

 

"Well then. That's good. I should go then." She looked a bit lost and turned to leave.

"No, wait! We were planning to go to the Scorpio smoothie bar. Do you wanna go with us?" I was still aware that I was going to have to work at a stall at the Ouran fair with her, and this seemed like a good opportunity to get to know her a bit better.

 

She hesitated, and I had a feeling that she was going to refuse my offer. But then Anzu spoke up:

"Yeah, you should go with us. As an apology for Hoshi falling on you yesterday. "

 

"ANZU! But yeah, she's right. You should."

 

"I guess it wouldn't hurt my reputation." She looked thoughtful and I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. But before could make a guess, Anzu had grabbed both of our arms and pulled us over towards her limo, which was waiting by the gates. After a brief conversation with the driver, we were walking towards the main high street, with Anzu in the middle, her arms linked around ours.

 

Rikimaru looked uncomfortable, but I tried to make conversation anyway. After a couple of minutes, however, I had already mentioned the weather three times and still wasn't getting any replies. I ended up trailing off into silence.

 

The Scorpio smoothie bar was the most popular hangout for Ouran students. So much so, that it actually declared it on a neon sign that hanging in the window. We entered the shop and a bell chimed. Even though the place looked extremely modern, it was actually owned by a little old lady who liked to keep things as classical as possible

 

We ordered our smoothies and took one of the tables by the window. It was starting to get dark outside and the streetlights were slowly flickering to life. The bell above the door rung again but we ignored it and continued to sit in silence, staring out at the street.

 

The sound of someone clearing their throat made us turn around as one and we saw the ginger twins standing in front of us. The avoided eyes contact, before they both bowed and mumbled "sorry".  


 

** Koray **

 

The strangest part of the afternoon was the fact I actually enjoyed going to the smoothie bar with Kamiya and Anzu. Though it was pretty awkward, it felt like I was part of something normal for once. It was something that really opened my mind that there are things to look for in people.

What was actually weird, and even kind of creepy was that Hikaru and Kaoru found us in the smoothie bar and both outright apologised to Anzu. I was actually shocked, and again, a little creeped out.

Hikaru nodded towards me as if to ask if that was good enough. I returned a smile and turned to see Anzu's reaction to this different display. Her face was as pink as before,

 

"I-uh-um. It's no big deal."

 

Kaoru then sweetly smiled and replied, "We could see it was and we both regret the way we handled it, right, Hikaru?"

 

Hikaru nodded but his eyes were inspecting the smoothie bar's smooth blue tiles. Kamiya then asked the twins if they would like to join us, even though we had stayed there pretty long and I thought Anzu may have passed out by the still redness of her face. But Kamiya must know her friend to know this was fine, so I stayed as the twins politely accepted and grabbed extra chairs to join us.

 

The air of awkwardness thickened more than before and it was eating me alive. I could never cope with awkward situations. Hikaru then left to go order another smoothie and it became more awkward with just Kaoru here alone.

 

"Soo," I thought aloud, "The Ouran fair is in a few weeks, right?" I ask Kamiya who nodded awkwardly, "Do you have any ideas for our stall?"

 

"I-Uh-well maybe we could-uh," she stuttered but then it look like she was electrocuted when she lit up, "We could...hire the Scorpio Smoothie bar!"

 

I chuckled slightly from her enthusiasm which she returned. "That idea isn't actually that bad, but how does that show any of our skills?"

 

"Good management," she replies quickly.

 

Kaoru cleared his throat, "It does actually show that you can hire people and create a good service so I think that's a good idea, Kamiya ."

 

Kamiya beamed and thanked Kaoru for his awkward but kind input, "Scorpio Smoothie stall it is, I'll just go talk to the manag-"

 

"Hey, excuse me, Rikimaru," a voice called behind me.

 

I turned round to see a girl in the Ouran Academy uniform approach. "Uh-yeah?" I answered not too rudely.

 

"Hi, I'm Hayashi-Ruby," she bowed politely, "I just wanted to say that I think it was incredibly awesome and nice of you to stand up for Anzu like you did today."

 

"Oh-uh-yeah-um" I turned to see Kaoru awkwardly staring to the ground and Hoshi and Anzu staring in bewilderment.

 

"What do you mean, Ruby-san?" Hoshi asked.

 

Hayashi got slightly closer to our table as if she had joined us. "Oh it was totally unexpected and crazy.

 

After you both left the host club, Rikimaru here gave Hikaru quite an earful, I almost fell off my seat when she had called Tamaki a fumbling idiot. She had literally called Hikaru an egomaniac. Told him to get his head out his ass and actually act like a gentleman. I respect you for that, Rikimaru. It's nice to know that you're one of us, we should all stand up for each other. Well, I've got to get going, bye." And then she left.

 

I turned around slowly to see Anzu in shock. "Is this true, Kaoru?" she asked him.

 

Kaoru nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head, "ah-um-yeah-it did kinda happen."

 

Kamiya turned to me with her big brown eyes. Anzu got up and bowed, thanking me for what I had done. During that moment Hikaru, half a smoothie in hand, had returned to see the display. It was the most awkward experience.

 

Kamiya then got up and smiled, "I think we should go and pay for the check now Anzu. I'll ask Mrs Yuuma about the stall for the fair. Bye now."

 

I could literally see the dust outline of Kamiya dragging Anzu away and it left me baffled for a moment.

Kaoru face palmed though I thought it was more of awkward situation for me. Hikaru raised an eyebrow to him.

 

"We'll pay for your drink, Koray." Kaoru told me.

 

Hikaru almost choked, "We will?"

 

"We will." Kaoru finalised through gritted teeth at his brother.

 

I rushed up out of my seat, "Listen, you don't need to do anything."

 

"No its really no big deal," Kaoru insisted.

 

"Yeah," Hikaru caught on, "we insist."

 

I sighed and nodded and made my way outside while the twins payed. I sighed into my hand and watched the cars go by. A limo pulled upfront and the twins made their way outside the door.

 

"Thank you," I bowed to them hesitantly.

 

"Really no problem," Kaoru insisted cheerfully, "See you tomorrow." And he climbed into the back of the limo.

 

Hikaru lingered longer, I could definitely tell that this wasn't all together his choice. He looked to the ground and kicked the ground. "Listen, I'm sorry if I offended you today, " he mumbled.

 

Taken aback, I stared as he looked up expectantly. I shook it off and sighed. "No, no, you don't need to apologise to me, you did nothing to me." I laughed, "I shouldn't have interfered to be honest, I don't know what took over me."

 

"Well you were right, I acted like an ass," he muttered.

 

Now I knew that he had talked this through with his brother because there was no way he'd freely admit to being an ass from a guilty conscious alone.

 

"You kinda did. Just don't do it again. I have witnessed so many people toying with others emotions and its exactly like watching torture. Both play on human emotions."

 

"You really take it to heart." He sounded sarcastic but I knew he wasn't trying to be.

 

"When your whole life revolves around a game like that, it's pretty hard not to have a strong opinion. It could have been either or." I sigh again because I could not stop.

 

"I just wanted to ask..." Hikaru started.

 

"What?" I mumbled.

 

"What happened to your head?"

 

"Long story. In short, don't mess with the rich kids," I chuckle, "See you tomorrow, Hikaru." I salute to him and stuff my hand into my jacket.

"See you," and he strangely saluted back and then climbed into his limo.

 

I shook my head and walked away. When I got home my parents were away. It was like the night before was forgotten, just like what had happened to my brother.


	7. 6 - Marshmallow Dress Fight

** Hoshi **

 

The limo was definitely following me. I could hear it driving slowly behind me, and it was kind of creeping me out. I glanced over my shoulder and began to speed up my walking. The limo sped up too. Shit. I broke into a jog and kept my eyes looking forwards, refusing to check the limo's progress. I had almost reached the school gates, when I felt a hand wrap around my mouth, and another grab my arm.

 

I struggled against the person who was holding me, but to no avail. Before I could put up more of a fuss, I had been thrown into the limo, and the door had been shut behind me. I looked up, expecting to see a whole load of thugs with shaved heads and tattoos, and instead saw two gingers with amber eyes staring down at me. The twin nearest me offered his hand and helped me into the seat opposite them. He looked apologetic, and when I looked him in the eyes he gave me a small smile.

 

"what do you guys think you're doing?" I was angry, but also slightly worried. I didn't really know these guys and couldn't be sure if I could trust them or not.

 

"we're sorry. We just wanted to speak to you about your friend Anzu." The twin who had helped me into the seat smiled.

 

"What about her?" I was feeling quite defensive, and it almost sounded as though they were accusing her of something.

 

"How long have you known her?" The other twin had spoken up. He had been staring absently out of the window until that point, but he was now looking at me coldly.

 

"Since we were 5." I was extremely confused by these questions.

 

"And you trust her?" It was the cold twin again.

 

"What Hikaru means is, do you know her? Do you know who she is?" The other twin looked concerned.

 

"Yes! What are you talking about? Why are you asking?" And the I get it. "You found out that her brother's in prison, didn't you?"

 

Their uncomfortable expressions confirmed my theory.

 

"We just wondered. Hikaru's supposed to be running a stall with her at the fair, and we wanted to know that we would be safe if we invited her to our house."

 

"She isn't going to murder you if that's what you mean." By the looks on their faces, that was exactly what they meant.

 

We arrived at school, and I got out of the limo before they could stop me. I could hear running footsteps, and a minute later one of the twins was walking beside me. On closer inspection, I could see that it was the smiley twin. I looked around and saw Hikaru walking behind us.

 

"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to offend you. It's just that we've never had to deal with criminals before."

 

"Anzu's not a criminal." I said this a bit more harshly than I'd intended to, and I saw smiley flinch.

 

"Of course, not. I'm Hitachiin Kaoru by the way. You can call me Kaoru."

 

"Hitachiin? As in, Hitachiin fashion industries?"

 

"Yeah. You've heard of us?"

 

"You guys are the sons of my Mum's business partner?" I was starting to think that maybe I shouldn't have been so rude.

 

"Business partner? Wait. Is your last name Kamiya?" He looked as shocked as I felt.

 

I stopped and extended my hand towards him. He took it and we shook hands.

 

"Kamiya Hoshi. You can call me Hoshi." He smiled, seemingly unaware that I was just playing nice for the sake of my family business and not because I wanted to make friends.

 

Hikaru caught up with us and looked at our hands in a confused way. I quickly let go of Kaoru's hand and felt my face flush, although I wasn't sure why. A handshake was a pretty reasonable thing to be doing.

 

"What are you guys doing?" He looked at us suspiciously.

 

"Hikaru! This is Kamiya...... I mean Hoshi. She's the daughter of Madame Kamiya of the Libra fashion industries."

 

"you mean, she's the daughter of our Mum's business partner?" Hikaru was now looking at me with growing interest.

 

"Yeah, I am." He looked taken aback by my straight forward answer. He recovered quickly though and offered me his hand, which I took.

 

"Hitachiin Hikaru. Call me Hikaru." He shook my hand and smiled for the first time.

 

"Kamiya Hoshi. Call me Kamiya." I wasn't smiling. This was the guy who had broken Anzu's heart. He didn't deserve friends.

 

Hikaru looked hurt for a minute, but Kaoru broke the awkward silence.

 

"Do you want us to walk you to your first class?"

 

"Not really. Besides, I can see one of my friends. Hey! Koray!" I ran over and linked arms with her.

 

"Who said you could call me that?" she looked annoyed.

 

"Just go along with it, will you? I need to get away from those two." I whispered and gestured towards the twins, who were both watching us. She sighed and nodded, and we awkwardly walked to class together, still linking arms.

 

We walked to our seats and sat down without looking at each other. Rikimaru ignored me, so I ignored he as well. When the bell went for lunch, she left the room too quickly for me to ask her if she wanted to join Anzu and I. As I left the room through the sliding doors, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and a pair of large amber eyes loomed in front of my face. Hikaru lowered his face towards mine and winked. I recoiled and ended up walking into Kaoru, who still had his arms around my waist.

 

"Sorry. Hikaru's idea. I think he's upset that you won't let him call you Hoshi." He whispered.

 

I heard a cough, and we both turned around to see Rikimaru looking somewhat irritated and glaring at us. Or more accurately, at Hikaru.

 

"Will you stop bothering her! She very obviously doesn't want to talk to you!" Her eyes were still fixed on Hikaru, and there was a murderous expression on her face. I could see someone pulling on her sleeve, and it took me a minute to realise that it was Anzu. Her blonde hair, which was usually waist length, had been cut into a bob. She was wearing more eyeliner then I'd ever seen her wear before, and instead of her yellow dress, she was wearing jeans and a white shirt.

 

"This is what you've done! This is what you people do!" She gestured towards Anzu who was attempting to hide behind her.

 

I exchanged a look with Kaoru before I realised what I was doing. I still couldn't believe that the famous Hitachiin twins were the same anti-social ginger twins that I's seen in middle school.

 

Rikimaru turned and walked away. Anzu waited for a moment, looked at me, before she hurried down the corridor after her. Kaoru let me go, but not before Hikaru had handed me a business card.

 

"You should visit the host club after school today. If you request me, I just might say yes." He smirked at me and wrapped his arm around Kaoru's shoulder.

 

"Hikaru! We do everything together! I can't believe you'd want to speak to her without me!" Tears filled kaoru's eyes and he gazed dreamily at his brother.

 

"Don't worry Kaoru. It's you I want to be with really."

 

"Hikaru!"

 

"What the hell are you two doing?" I was watching them in bewilderment.

 

"Just make sure you join us at the club, alright?" Kaoru smiled at me. "For Hikaru's sake." He whispered, before they both walked away, leaving me standing in the corridor feeling extremely confused.

 

 

** Koray **

 

"You  _have_  to go with me, Rikimaru," Kamiya begged me, pleading, her wide green eyes almost bulging out her sockets. She was desperate for me to guard her from Hikaru at the Host club after what had happened earlier. I had no clue why Hikaru and Kaoru made such a big deal apologising yesterday at the smoothie shop if he was just going to mess it up as soon as he could. Anzu had made it extremely clear that she was never putting a foot near the place again but Kamiya wanted carrot cake with Hunny.

 

I sigh aloud, "I was going to see Haruhi anyway, so I guess we can go together."

 

Kamiya burst into thanks and excited laugher, almost hugging me before retracting her raised arms, towering over me. "Wait a second," she piped up after a silent moment walking down the corridor, a small smirk appearing across her lips, "You see a lot of that Haruhi guy, don't you?"

 

I swat her away and chuckle, "we're just friends, Kamiya."

She laughed sarcastically, and I pushed her lightly. "For being the natural type," she pondered, "Fujioka does seem quite...what's the word for it? Um-"

 

"Fake?" I respond.

 

"Well, I was going to put it nicer than that but yeah." She tilted her head to the side in thought.

 

"Haruhi is a pretty  _weird guy_." I added, with an inside joke only I'd understand unless Kamiya was smart enough to figure it out. I had almost forgotten how most people in this school think Haruhi's a guy.

 

We walked down the corridor after an awkward silence, I mean, I've only known this girl for three days. When we stepped through the doors to the so-called music practise room it was like stepping into another world. Instead of the usual Host club tea party set up, it was now filled with plants, water features and tropical birds.

 

I shake my head in disbelief and look around. "How the hell do they have a budget big enough for all this?"

Kamiya shrugged her shoulders. We stood there for a while in awe, watching as they hosted in some sort of tropical "cosplay". Kamiya and I exchanged glances before we went to find Haruhi.

 

"I need cake," Kamiya whispered, her eyes glazed over whilst she slowly walked over to where cake was laid out.

 

"Okayy..." I sigh and find Haruhi sat at her table, talking to two girls about how she's never experienced anywhere tropical before. "Is that so, Haruhi?" I say as i flop onto the couch, right next to her. I received annoyed glances from both the girls.

 

After a moments silence, Kamiya joined us with a plate of chocolate cake _and_  carrot cake. She took one look at the girls, then sat right next to me and stuffed some cake into her mouth.

 

"Oh, Kamiya," one of the girls with an annoying posh voice and blonde hair called to the cake obsessed fiend next to me. "Where's Anzu? The poor girl, what exactly happened?"

 

Though it felt like she was trying to be nice, the tone in this girl's voice only sounded as if she was trying to cause drama. While Kamiya's mouth was stuffed full of cake and her expression looked as though she definitely didn't want to talk to these girls, I took the liberty in replying. "Its a long story." I pointed out bluntly.

 

The blonde girl raised her eyebrow as her raven haired friend looked to the ground. Both the girls then razed from their seats. "Please give Anzu my best, Kamiya." The raven hair girl whispered.

 

"Haruhi, we're sorry to be leaving so soon but I am started to feel quite tired." The blonde one bowed to Haruhi.

 

"Whatta shame!" I mumble under my breath.

 

"Okay then," Haruhi laughed loudly over me "See you next time i hope." and with that the two girls left the room.

 

"Sorry if that was my fault, Haruhi, they just seemed like twats," I laugh, leaning back comfortably on the couch.

 

"Nah, it definitely wasn't. I'm kinda glad they left," Haruhi relaxed.

Kamiya had finished her mouthful and looked up at Haruhi, as if puzzled. In that blissful moment of silence, Kamiya took another bite of cake, Haruhi poured us tea and I scoured the room out of habit.

 

"Well, you made it!" Two voices cried out unison behind the couch and the three of us jumped out of our skin.

 

"Kamiya, I thought I told you to request us?" Hikaru smiled devilishly.

 

Kamiya coughed, looked to me and then stuffed more cake into her mouth after whispering about the cake.

 

"She doesn't have to do anything you tell her to, dickhead." I answer, obviously making sure he knew how annoyed i was at him. It did seem as though this was an act.

 

Kaoru stood back as his twin did most of the talking. "Is that so, Koray?" Hikaru replied leaning close to me over the couch. "Do you always answer for her?"

 

"Do you and Kaoru always try to act the same?" I retort, "As you can see, Kamiya here, is innocently trying to finish her cake in peace. So if you mind  _or not_ , you are ruining the moment with your stupid face, so butt out."

 

"Woah, listen cranky pants, we just want Kamiya to play with us," Hikaru mock-whined, "Kamiya, come on, have a laugh."

 

I grabbed Hikaru by the shoulders, swinging myself over the couch and pinning him to the ground. It may sound badass but in a yellow marshmallow dress it looks more like a flump trying to squash someone.

 

"DO YOU SEE ANYONE LAUGHING!" I yelled in his face as i held him by his shirt collar. I was aware everyone in the room had stopped and watched, even Kamiya looked slightly bewildered, but I was way to angry to drop it. "Seriously, Hikaru, if you want to  _'play'_  with someone try to be freaking nice to them first. Kamiya tried to be nice to you, Anzu tried to be nice to you but you're just so fucking conceited in your own world that you don't seem to give a shit no matter what anyone says. After your apology yesterday i thought things had changed, I realise now that it was Kaoru leading you the whole time. Just do everyone a favour; fuck off and just play with your girls."

 

Hikaru's hazel eyes were wide with shock, and I admit again, I've only known this guy for three days but things seem to move pretty fast in this world.

 

"Koray?" I hear Haruhi, "Maybe you should stop now, I think he's learned his lesson."

 

I sighed and raised my eyebrow, not taking my eyes off Hikaru. I let go of his shirt and pushed myself up into a sitting position, basically sitting on Hikaru's lap, which was extremely embrassing but it was this stupid dress. I was stuck, on Hikaru's lap because of this stupid marshmallow dress. I cursed under my breath, Hikaru looked incredibly confused but still unable to get any words out of that mouth; a first.

 

"Koray?" Haruhi insisted again.

 

I mouthed to her that I was stuck but then I felt a pair of arms help me up, which turned out to be Kaoru. Once I was safely on my feet and turned and thanked the nicer twin who looked just as bewildered as Kamiya.

 

Hikaru was still on the ground looking up to me with a look of embarrassment. I offered my hand to help him up but he slapped it away and dragged himself up and dusted himself off.

 

I turned to Kamiya, "I think we should leave," she nodded in response. I turned to Kyoya and Tamaki who stood together now, watching silently, except for the scribbles in Kyoya's book. "I apologise for causing this disruption." Then with as much grace and speed as I could muster, I walked out that blasted tropical  _paradise_.

 

When I got out the door, I was shaking like crazy and I made my way towards one of the tall windows and sank to the ground. I brought my knees up and buried my face in my hands, trying to take deep breaths. I heard footsteps slowly walk towards me and I felt a presence sit across from me. I looked up to see Kamiya looking very concerned.

 

"K-"she started, "Rikimaru? Are you alright? I mean thanks for back there but-"

 

"You can call me Koray," I respond raking my shaking hands through my hair.

 

"Are-are you sure? Well then you can call me Hoshi." She said. "Koray... I have a feeling that what happened wasn't all for mine and Anzu's sake?"

 

I nodded. I looked her in her wide hazel eyes. "No, it wasn't. I just...lost control."

 

"I don't mean to pry but-"

 

"But you're incredibly nosy?" then i see her wince at my anger and change my expression. "No its fine. I mean, we've gotten closer as the day's progressed, why not tell you?" Hoshi chuckled at that. "I just, I have known arrogant people like him before. They act like they're so big and clever and the best, yet they're so cold towards anyone. How can they be so popular with everyone but hurt everyone so much?" Hoshi raises her eyebrows at me. "Well I guess I'm cold to people," I admit, "but that's different. I don't mean to be, I just haven't been taught how to talk to people, my brother did that," My emotions had suddenly taken over me, making me shake uncontrollably, tears threatening to show. "Now he's dead and I don't know what to do!"

 

"Oh, Koray, I'm sorry." Hoshi offers a small, awkward pat on my leg but retracts as if I may bite her. It was a few moments before i calmed down, Hoshi watched calmly till I lay my face in my hands.

 

"Did you see me get stuck back there?" I cringed, turning bright red.

 

Hoshi starts laughing uncontrollably and soon enough I join in. After what seemed like ages of laughing we managed to calm down again. Hoshi gets up, onto her feet, with great difficultly, falling over in the process causing more laughing fits. She eventually makes it up and offers me a hand.

 

"Come on," she says.

 

"Where are we going?"

 

She giggles, "Hitting the school rules to see if we can alter these blasted marshmallows."


	8. 7 - Bets and Math Tests

Hoshi

I spent the next few weeks in detention. Well I wasn't constantly in detention obviously. But I spent more time sitting in a classroom after school than I would have otherwise liked. It turned out that Ouran has a very strict uniform policy and that Koray and I were "disgracing the school" by trying to change it. This ended with us both getting two weeks' detention and a school announcement that berets were now on the uniform list.

Because of detention, I had to stay even later at school to train. It had gotten to the point where the school caretakers had given me a key to the gates at the track so that I could leave when I liked. I still hadn't found a private detective either. They never seemed to fit the bill and I'd met a few shady types.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the lunch bell ringing, and quickly joined the throng of people heading towards the cafeteria. Lunches were some of the only times I looked forwards to. Although now that the detentions finished, I'd have more free time on my hands.

After purchasing my lunch – pudding was chocolate fudge cake and I could hardly wait to eat it – I sat down at the usual table. Shortly after, Koray slid into the seat next to me.

"Do you understand anything that's going on in maths at the moment?" She looked miserable and I knew why. Koray was very sensitive about the fact that she had to be in 1-C because of her maths grades.

"Not really. I think its something to do with infinity. But I don't really pay attention. The lessons seem to go on forever."

"Did you just make a maths pun?"

"Maybe. I know it's a sine of stupidity, but I just can't help it."

Koray sniggered. "How can you make maths puns when you're so bad at the subject?"

"I don't know. It doesn't add up, does it?"

At that, we both burst out laughing, and only managed to stop when Anzu sat down across from us. She looked confused and slightly hurt.

"What are you guys talking about?" She had been a bit irritable lately. Especially since I had become good friends with Koray. Which really hadn't been my fault. Two weeks of joint detention does that to you.

"Just maths." I smiled at her and she returned it, the smile not quite reaching her eyes.

I was about to say something else, when I heard shouting.

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T WANT TO BE CONSTANTLY FOLLOWED!"

Haruhi had arrived, with Hikaru and Kaoru in tow. She sat down opposite Koray, which meant that the twins couldn't sit next to her. Hikaru took the seat next to Anzu – which made her flinch as though she'd been shot – and Kaoru sat down next to me.

Koray looked at Anzu – who looked extremely distressed – and then glanced up at Hikaru.

"What do you think you're doing?" Her voice was icy, and it took all my strength not to giggle. They went through the same routine every day and it was starting to just be funny.

"I'm just sitting here. Is that against the law now?" Hikaru smirked and wrapped his arm around Anzu's shoulders.

SPLAT. Koray had thrown a handful of mashed potato and hit Hikaru squarely in the face. He looked furious and began wiping patch off with an embroidered handkerchief.

"So that's how you want to play it, huh?" He scooped up a handful of his own mashed potato and threw it at Koray, who dodged just in time. Then ensued and epic food fight between the two of them, while the rest of us sat quietly and concentrated on eating and not making eye contact, so as not to laugh.

I felt Kaoru nudge my elbow, and looked down to see that he'd passed me a note.

"I bet there're dating by the end of the month."

I smiled and scribbled a note back.

"More like the end of the week."

We both dissolved into giggles that we had to cover it up by having simultaneous laughing fits. Hikaru and Koray stopped fighting and looked at us in concern. Hikaru was immediately at his brother's side, patting him on the back and offering him water. Koray looked awkward and slapped my back. It felt as though I'd been hit by a car. I began actually choking, and Haruhi had to give me her bottle of water.

I had decided not to train after school, and the host club weren't participating in any club activities, so our little group were all standing by the school gates next to the vending machines.

"Why do we have to hang around with them?" I looked up and saw Anzu pointing at the twins. She was leaning against the vending machine whilst I dug around in my purse for change.

"They aren't that bad. And Koray and Haruhi keep them in check." I had finally found the right amount of coins and had begun to dispense them into machine.

"Hikaru's awful. And Koray's just making things worse!"

I punched in the code for a bottle of water, and looked over to see that Anzu was close to tears. I could hear Koray shouting at the twins behind us, and Haruhi laughing at them.

"Koray's our friend. And Haruhi's hers. And the twins follow Haruhi. That's just how it is."

"But we hardly know Haruhi! I don't see why we should have to put up with the twins because of her!"

"She trusted us enough to tell us her secret. We can't just ditch her because of her creepy ginger stalkers."

This was true. Last week Haruhi had revealed that she was a girl to me and Anzu. I had been slightly shocked, but Anzu had looked relatively unperturbed.

"I guess..." Anzu looked a bit ashamed and a red blush tinted her cheeks.

I patted her shoulder and walked over to the others.

"Here, Haruhi. For the bottle I drunk earlier." I handed her the bottle and she smiled and nodded in thanks.

The twins had noticed our bottle exchange and sidled over, smiling evilly. Kaoru put his hand on my head and Hikaru put his on Haruhi's.

"Haruhi! If you'd wanted a bottle of water, you could have just asked me." Hikaru whined and poked Haruhi's face.

"Yeah. And you didn't have to pay for it, Hoshi." He poked my cheek and leant down to whisper in my ear. "I can't decide whether I ship Hikaru with Haruhi or Koray"

"My money's on Koray." I whispered back.

"I don't know. I think Hikaru has feelings for Haruhi."

I watched Haruhi and Hikaru for a minute. He was poking her cheek repeatedly while she tried to bat him away, looking annoyed.

"You might have a point there."

"Told you!" He looked smug and I slapped his arm.

Koray and Anzu had been talking together, but were now heading towards the gate.

"We have to go now. See ya!" Koray waved and Anzu followed suit.

"Well I should go as well. See you guys tomorrow!" I waved at Haruhi and Kaoru, making a point to ignore Hikaru.

"Hoshi! Don't ignore me!" Hikaru looked at me sadly.

"My name is Kamiya and don't you forget it!" I gave him a withering look and he shrank back.

"Bye Hoshi!" Kaoru yelled and gave me an over dramatic wave. I walked away, with the sounds of Hikaru whining about how mean I was to him, and Haruhi and Kaoru laughing whilst they tried to console him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Koray

I had to say that no matter how many detentions the school had given me and Hoshi for our uniform, I no longer cared if I had to wear it. I stuck with my guts and wore it still, Hoshi, wanting no more trouble, backed down and stuck to the uniform with the new and improved beret. I wore the uniform Hoshi had picked for me, which, yes, was the boys uniform with a skirt but it was way better than the banana marshmallow. Though the skirt was over the knee, just to make them happy. After a discussion with my mother, who really couldn't care less what I wore to school, made an agreement with the school that I could wear the uniform. 

After that first week had past and the ceremony for my brother was done, his death just hung over us light a net, ready to catch us at any point. My mother's speech at the ceremony was cold and regretted she had had such a weak son. The next few weeks past and my parents hadn't been in the house since, which was fine with me, i was left to sleep and do school work without interference.

It was on a Thursday afternoon that Hoshi and I sat in the host club after the worst math class ever. We waited while Haruhi did her host duty and so far no twins came near us. I didn't really want to see Hiakru with yesterday's food fight fiasco.I had let out an angry groan followed by bashing my head on our table a few times, almost spilling our tea.

"It can't be that bad can it?" Hoshi asked with a slight smirk.

"It is!" I cried out, "How is math so impossibly difficult?" Hoshi chuckles when I score out yet another incorrect answer. "How did you even manage to pass this?"

"I don't know whether I should be offended by that or not," Hoshi acts shocked with a hand over her heart, she then sips at her tea. "Anzu's in the top class. What friend wouldn't help me out with math?"

I smiled mischievously, "yeah, what friend wouldn't help."

"Hey, I can't help you, I barely passed myself," Hoshi scoffed. "And besides," she mumbles, "I don't remember any of it."

"Noo, Hoshi, why?" I groaned and, once again, banged my head on the table, "Someone has to help me!"

"I'd ask Anzu but I don't know if she'd help." Hoshi sighed, "I don't know. Hey, ask Haruhi!"

I turned quickly to Haruhi, who, when hearing me call her name, looked up suddenly, her facial expression showing she knew whatever I was asking would stress her.

"What do you want?" she asked bluntly.

"You're good at math, Haruhi and we're such good friends right-"

"I can't help you." She stated bluntly.

"Why not?" I whined while the girls sitting with Haruhi were shocked at my childish behaviour.

"I have too much work to do, remember I'm a scholarship student." Haruhi sighs and turns away.

I looked to Hoshi who shrugs her shoulders and carries on with her English paper. "There has to be someone who can help me with math!"

"Oh there is," a familiar voice told me from behind. At least it wasn't the voice I really did not want to hear.

Koaru came into view smiling. "Are you willing to help me with math then?" I asked him with a deadpan.

"Oh, I could help you but I'm not the best in class," he smirked at me and winked at Hoshi, "I know someone who is the best though. Hey, Hikaru, come over here!"

Before I had any time to stop him, Hikaru came swaggering over to Kaoru, questioning his brother why he was here, near me of all people.

"You see," Kaoru smirked, "Koray here needs some help-"

I jumped up, almost knocking Kaoru to the floor, "No, no I don't!"

"You see, Hikaru," Kaoru persisted, fighting me out his way, "Koray has a small predicament-"

"Small enough that no help is actually needed," I butted in, chuckling nervously.

Kaoru rolled his eyes. Hikaru looked extremely confused and started to walk away as I danced in victory but...

"KORAY NEEDS YOUR HELP WITH MATH!" Kaoru yelled at his brother.

My mouth opened wide and I was stunned. Everyone in the room all turned around. I felt the judging eyes as they bore into my soul.

"Nothin' to see here, nothin' to see here!" Hoshi called out to everyone, saving my ass.

I turned back around smiling sheepishly, giving Kaoru a death glare.

"You need my help with math?" Hikaru asked almost patronizingly, smirking.

I turned to him fully, "Well, I wouldn't go that far. More like some advice."

"She just needs some tutoring for when she retakes the test," Hoshi explained to him before looking to me with apologising eyes.

"Wait, you have to retake a test?" Hikaru looked slightly surprised.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" I glared.

"No, no, no problem," Kaoru laughed, shushing his brother.

Hoshi poked me, encouraging me to accept the situation. "Can you then?"

"Can I what?" asked Hikaru menacingly.

"You know, tutor me?"

"Oh right," Hikaru smirked, and I swear I saw the devil in his eyes, "Sure thing. Come to our house tomorrow after school."

"Ohhhhhhhhhh, oh no way," I shook my head and put my hands into an 'x' shape. "I'm going nowhere near you're house."

"So we can come to your house?" He asked, Haruhi looked up at this point, as ifthis had given her a flashback from the time they tricked her into letting them go to her house.

"First of all, my house is off limit for obvious reasons," I sighed, "and second, both of you aren't tutoring me so no Kaoru, that'll just make things worse."

"Listen there," Kaoru pointed out to Hoshi, "She wants to be alone with Hikaru."

"Noooo, it's not like that. Just having both of you around is worse than just one," I sighed, "Tomorrow, after Host Club, I'll meet you at the smoothie bar."

"I'm tutoring you in a smoothie bar?" Hikaru asked, as if the idea was foreign.

"Yes, neutral territory, plus if you mess around, you'd have to buy me a smoothie," I laughed, "And because you'll think Kaoru will be so lonely, he can go to the smoothie bar with Hoshi," I added a menacing smile at Kaoru and Hoshi, "Maybe you can tell Hoshi one of your sentimental speeches Kaoru?"

"Deal," Hikaru held out his hand to shake and I took it, "Why can't we give you a ride from the host Club?"

"Because if I'm going to a tutoring session with you, I'm going home to rest first." I turned around and walked away, after gathering my things from the table.

~~~~the next day~~~~~

Every limb of my body ached as I walked to the smoothie bar. I was dressed in lazy sweatpants and a hoodie and I probably looked a wreck, my hair was all over the place, but I was so exhausted. As I walked in through the doors, I saw Hoshi awkwardly waiting beside the twins. They were all dressed in normal clothes, all looking rich and tidy.

"Oh my god," Hoshi gasped when she saw me, "Who mugged you?"

I laughed sarcastically, "Very funny."

"I thought you had gone home to rest?" Hikaru inquired, looking me head to toe as if I was an animal.

"Well, everyone at home had other plans for me," I groaned, "Two hours of training!"

Hoshi patted my head, even though she had way longer training sessions for running.

"Is that why you're covered in bruises?" asked Kaoru.

"In my household, there is contact, shows you're a better fighter if you bruise someone. I don't bruise easily."

"I'll buy you a drink, Koray," Hoshi insisted and ran off.

Hikaru motioned to a table for two and I slumped onto my chair with a huff. He sat beside me and took out a notebook. I grabbed my bag and dumped my math books onto the table and closed my eyes. Meanwhile, Hikaru began flipping through my notebooks, which were, in fact, covered in doodles. Hoshi passed me over a berry energy smoothie and slowly walked over to where Kaoru sat reading over whatever work he had brought.

I faced Hikaru who looked at my jotter with what looked like disgust.

"I can't be that bad?" I groaned at him.

"It's not that," he muttered, and suddenly turned to face me, "You've been given pretty bad formulas to use. Like these," he pointed out, "These have way too much working involved. Has your teacher not shown you the other formula?"

"There's another formula?" I groaned.

"It's almost as if they are giving you the formula's that are time consuming so it looks like you've done more, these are pretty simple with the right formula."

"So what you're saying is that they're making us do something more difficult than it should be because we can't do more?"

"As if they want you to stay in that class but feel more fulfilled by longer workings."

"Stupid rich school wanting to please the stupid rich kids," I mumbled, "Why don't you show me the new formulas?"

"Alright," and that's when Hikaru made the math I did seem like slicing bread. Though at times I almost fell asleep and wanted to scream at him, he actually did help. When I did a much as I could take, I told him that we should stop, especially since it was almost 10pm and the smoothie bar was still open.

I looked over at Hoshi, who was listening to Kaoru talking in great depth, but I heard something concerning Hikaru and myself. I rested my head on Hikaru's comfy shoulder as I couldn't take the tiredness that was overwhelmed me. He looked pretty uncomfortable about the situation which made me just stay there because his reaction was so funny.

"You know they're talking about us right?" I lifted my head.

"Yeah? What are they saying?" Hikaru asked, still looking pretty uncomfortable.

"Well, I heard something about a theory and then that they were betting that you were going to date me or Haruhi by the end of the month."

"What?" Hikaru awkwardly laughed, rubbing the back of his head, making me laugh.

"Then again, I might be delirious, but that's what I heard. I think they're wrong though," I say, which results in a confused face from Hikaru. I shook my head, " I think they'll be the one's dating by the end of this month."

"Really? What makes you say that?" Hikaru asked, completely oblivious to what was right in front of him.

I yawned. "Well, he and Hoshi are so close and they actually have a chance." Hikaru still looked confused. I started packing away my things and chuckled about how ignorant he was. "Thanks for this great tutoring and hopefully I'll past the test. I'll be going now. Byeee, Hoshi!"

With that I ran out the smoothie shop and all the way home.

After school the next day, I ran to the Host Club, the happiest I had felt for a while. I burst through and saw Hoshi sitting at a table, as Kaoru hovered near her in conversation with her. Hikaru stood close to his brother. I raced over, the fastest I could but everything hurt from last's night's training. "I did it!" I cried out, "I FREAKING did it!"

I pushed the paper in front of Hoshi and her eyes widened in surprise. "But how?"

"A FREAKING PLUS, HOSHI!" I clapped happily as she passed my paper over to Hikaru. "THANK YOU!" I yelled at Hikaru, hugging him, which must have been an effect of how high I was feeling from the adrenaline pumping through me. He looked extremely lost for words.


	9. 8 - Kidnapped to Karuizawa

** Hoshi **

 

I spent the next few weeks in detention. Well I wasn't constantly in detention obviously. But I spent more time sitting in a classroom after school than I would have otherwise liked. It turned out that Ouran has a very strict uniform policy and that Koray and I were "disgracing the school" by trying to change it. This ended with us both getting two weeks' detention and a school announcement that berets were now on the uniform list.

 

Because of detention, I had to stay even later at school to train. It had gotten to the point where the school caretakers had given me a key to the gates at the track so that I could leave when I liked. I still hadn't found a private detective either. They never seemed to fit the bill and I'd met a few shady types.

 

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the lunch bell ringing, and quickly joined the throng of people heading towards the cafeteria. Lunches were some of the only times I looked forwards to. Although now that the detentions finished, I'd have more free time on my hands.

 

After purchasing my lunch – pudding was chocolate fudge cake and I could hardly wait to eat it – I sat down at the usual table. Shortly after, Koray slid into the seat next to me.

 

"Do you understand anything that's going on in maths at the moment?" She looked miserable and I knew why. Koray was very sensitive about the fact that she had to be in 1-C because of her maths grades.

 

"Not really. I think its something to do with infinity. But I don't really pay attention. The lessons seem to go on forever."

 

"Did you just make a maths pun?"

 

"Maybe. I know it's a sine of stupidity, but I just can't help it."

 

Koray sniggered. "How can you make maths puns when you're so bad at the subject?"

 

"I don't know. It doesn't add up, does it?"

 

At that, we both burst out laughing, and only managed to stop when Anzu sat down across from us. She looked confused and slightly hurt.

 

"What are you guys talking about?" She had been a bit irritable lately. Especially since I had become good friends with Koray. Which really hadn't been my fault. Two weeks of joint detention does that to you.

"Just maths." I smiled at her and she returned it, the smile not quite reaching her eyes.

 

I was about to say something else, when I heard shouting.

 

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T WANT TO BE CONSTANTLY FOLLOWED!"

 

Haruhi had arrived, with Hikaru and Kaoru in tow. She sat down opposite Koray, which meant that the twins couldn't sit next to her. Hikaru took the seat next to Anzu – which made her flinch as though she'd been shot – and Kaoru sat down next to me.

 

Koray looked at Anzu – who looked extremely distressed – and then glanced up at Hikaru.

"What do you think you're doing?" Her voice was icy, and it took all my strength not to giggle. They went through the same routine every day and it was starting to just be funny.

 

"I'm just sitting here. Is that against the law now?" Hikaru smirked and wrapped his arm around Anzu's shoulders.

 

SPLAT. Koray had thrown a handful of mashed potato and hit Hikaru squarely in the face. He looked furious and began wiping patch off with an embroidered handkerchief.

 

"So that's how you want to play it, huh?" He scooped up a handful of his own mashed potato and threw it at Koray, who dodged just in time. Then ensued and epic food fight between the two of them, while the rest of us sat quietly and concentrated on eating and not making eye contact, so as not to laugh.

 

I felt Kaoru nudge my elbow, and looked down to see that he'd passed me a note.

_"I bet there're dating by the end of the month."_

 

I smiled and scribbled a note back.

_"More like the end of the week."_

 

We both dissolved into giggles that we had to cover it up by having simultaneous laughing fits. Hikaru and Koray stopped fighting and looked at us in concern. Hikaru was immediately at his brother's side, patting him on the back and offering him water. Koray looked awkward and slapped my back. It felt as though I'd been hit by a car. I began actually choking, and Haruhi had to give me her bottle of water.

 

I had decided not to train after school, and the host club weren't participating in any club activities, so our little group were all standing by the school gates next to the vending machines.

 

"Why do we have to hang around with them?" I looked up and saw Anzu pointing at the twins. She was leaning against the vending machine whilst I dug around in my purse for change.

 

"They aren't that bad. And Koray and Haruhi keep them in check." I had finally found the right amount of coins and had begun to dispense them into machine.

 

"Hikaru's awful. And Koray's just making things worse!"

 

I punched in the code for a bottle of water, and looked over to see that Anzu was close to tears. I could hear Koray shouting at the twins behind us, and Haruhi laughing at them.

 

"Koray's our friend. And Haruhi's hers. And the twins follow Haruhi. That's just how it is."

 

"But we hardly know Haruhi! I don't see why we should have to put up with the twins because of her!"

 

"She trusted us enough to tell us her secret. We can't just ditch her because of her creepy ginger stalkers."

 

This was true. Last week Haruhi had revealed that she was a girl to me and Anzu. I had been slightly shocked, but Anzu had looked relatively unperturbed.

 

"I guess..." Anzu looked a bit ashamed and a red blush tinted her cheeks.

 

I patted her shoulder and walked over to the others.

"Here, Haruhi. For the bottle I drunk earlier." I handed her the bottle and she smiled and nodded in thanks.

 

The twins had noticed our bottle exchange and sidled over, smiling evilly. Kaoru put his hand on my head and Hikaru put his on Haruhi's.

 

"Haruhi! If you'd wanted a bottle of water, you could have just asked me." Hikaru whined and poked Haruhi's face.

 

"Yeah. And you didn't have to pay for it, Hoshi." He poked my cheek and leant down to whisper in my ear.

 

"I can't decide whether I ship Hikaru with Haruhi or Koray"

 

"My money's on Koray." I whispered back.

 

"I don't know. I think Hikaru has feelings for Haruhi."

 

I watched Haruhi and Hikaru for a minute. He was poking her cheek repeatedly while she tried to bat him away, looking annoyed.

 

"You might have a point there."

 

"Told you!" He looked smug and I slapped his arm.

 

Koray and Anzu had been talking together, but were now heading towards the gate.

 

"We have to go now. See ya!" Koray waved and Anzu followed suit.

 

"Well I should go as well. See you guys tomorrow!" I waved at Haruhi and Kaoru, making a point to ignore Hikaru.

 

"Hoshi! Don't ignore me!" Hikaru looked at me sadly.

 

"My name is Kamiya and don't you forget it!" I gave him a withering look and he shrank back.

 

"Bye Hoshi!" Kaoru yelled and gave me an over dramatic wave. I walked away, with the sounds of Hikaru whining about how mean I was to him, and Haruhi and Kaoru laughing whilst they tried to console him.

 

 

** Koray **

 

I had to say that no matter how many detentions the school had given me and Hoshi for our uniform, I no longer cared if I had to wear it. I stuck with my guts and wore it still, Hoshi, wanting no more trouble, backed down and stuck to the uniform with the new and improved beret. I wore the uniform Hoshi had picked for me, which, yes, was the boys uniform with a skirt but it was way better than the banana marshmallow. Though the skirt was over the knee, just to make them happy. After a discussion with my mother, who really couldn't care less what I wore to school, made an agreement with the school that I could wear the uniform.   
  
After that first week had past and the ceremony for my brother was done, his death just hung over us light a net, ready to catch us at any point. My mother's speech at the ceremony was cold and regretted she had had such a weak son. The next few weeks past and my parents hadn't been in the house since, which was fine with me, i was left to sleep and do school work without interference.

It was on a Thursday afternoon that Hoshi and I sat in the host club after the worst math class ever. We waited while Haruhi did her host duty and so far no twins came near us. I didn't really want to see Hiakru with yesterday's food fight fiasco.I had let out an angry groan followed by bashing my head on our table a few times, almost spilling our tea.

 

"It can't be that bad can it?" Hoshi asked with a slight smirk.

 

"It is!" I cried out, "How is math so impossibly difficult?" Hoshi chuckles when I score out yet another incorrect answer. "How did  _you_  even manage to pass this?"

 

"I don't know whether I should be offended by that or not," Hoshi acts shocked with a hand over her heart, she then sips at her tea. "Anzu's in the top class. What friend wouldn't help me out with math?"

I smiled mischievously, "yeah, what friend wouldn't help."

 

"Hey, I can't help you, I barely passed myself," Hoshi scoffed. "And besides," she mumbles, "I don't remember any of it."

 

"Noo, Hoshi,  _why_?" I groaned and, once again, banged my head on the table, "Someone  _has_  to help me!"

 

"I'd ask Anzu but I don't know if she'd help." Hoshi sighed, "I don't know. Hey, ask Haruhi!"

 

I turned quickly to Haruhi, who, when hearing me call her name, looked up suddenly, her facial expression showing she knew whatever I was asking would stress her.

 

"What do you want?" she asked bluntly.

 

"You're good at math, Haruhi and we're such good friends right-"

 

"I can't help you." She stated bluntly.

 

"Why not?" I whined while the girls sitting with Haruhi were shocked at my childish behaviour.

 

"I have too much work to do, remember I'm a scholarship student." Haruhi sighs and turns away.

I looked to Hoshi who shrugs her shoulders and carries on with her English paper. "There has to be someone who can help me with math!"

 

"Oh there is," a familiar voice told me from behind. At least it wasn't the voice I really did not want to hear.

 

Koaru came into view smiling. "Are you willing to help me with math then?" I asked him with a deadpan.

 

"Oh, I  _could_  help you but I'm not the best in class," he smirked at me and winked at Hoshi, "I know someone who is the best though. Hey, Hikaru, come over here!"

 

Before I had any time to stop him, Hikaru came swaggering over to Kaoru, questioning his brother why he was here, near me of all people.

 

"You see," Kaoru smirked, "Koray here needs some help-"

 

I jumped up, almost knocking Kaoru to the floor, "No, no I don't!"

 

"You see, Hikaru," Kaoru persisted, fighting me out his way, "Koray has a small predicament-"

 

"Small enough that no help is actually needed," I butted in, chuckling nervously.

 

Kaoru rolled his eyes. Hikaru looked extremely confused and started to walk away as I danced in victory but...

 

"KORAY NEEDS YOUR HELP WITH MATH!" Kaoru yelled at his brother.

 

My mouth opened wide and I was stunned. Everyone in the room all turned around. I felt the judging eyes as they bore into my soul.

 

"Nothin' to see here, nothin' to see here!" Hoshi called out to everyone, saving my ass.

 

I turned back around smiling sheepishly, giving Kaoru a death glare.

 

"You need  _my_  help with math?" Hikaru asked almost patronizingly, smirking.

 

I turned to him fully, "Well, I wouldn't go that far. More like some  _advice_."

 

"She just needs some tutoring for when she retakes the test," Hoshi explained to him before looking to me with apologising eyes.

 

"Wait,  _you_  have to  _retake_  a test?" Hikaru looked slightly surprised.

 

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" I glared.

 

"No, no, no problem," Kaoru laughed, shushing his brother.

 

Hoshi poked me, encouraging me to accept the situation. "Can you then?"

 

"Can I what?" asked Hikaru menacingly.

 

"You know, tutor me?"

 

"Oh right," Hikaru smirked, and I swear I saw the devil in his eyes, "Sure thing. Come to our house tomorrow after school."

 

"Ohhhhhhhhhh, oh no way," I shook my head and put my hands into an 'x' shape. "I'm going nowhere near you're house."

 

"So we can come to your house?" He asked, Haruhi looked up at this point, as ifthis had given her a flashback from the time they tricked her into letting them go to her house.

 

"First of all, my house is off limit for obvious reasons," I sighed, "and second, both of you aren't tutoring me so no Kaoru,  _that'll_  just make things worse."

 

"Listen there," Kaoru pointed out to Hoshi, "She wants to be alone with Hikaru."

 

"Noooo, it's  _not_  like that. Just having both of you around is worse than just one," I sighed, "Tomorrow, after Host Club, I'll meet you at the smoothie bar."

 

"I'm tutoring you in a smoothie bar?" Hikaru asked, as if the idea was foreign.

"Yes, neutral territory, plus if you mess around, you'd have to buy me a smoothie," I laughed, "And because you'll think Kaoru will be  _so_  lonely, he can go to the smoothie bar with Hoshi," I added a menacing smile at Kaoru and Hoshi, "Maybe you can tell Hoshi one of your sentimental speeches Kaoru?"

 

"Deal," Hikaru held out his hand to shake and I took it, "Why can't we give you a ride from the host Club?"

 

"Because if I'm going to a tutoring session with you, I'm going home to rest first." I turned around and walked away, after gathering my things from the table.

 

~~~~the next day~~~~~

 

Every limb of my body ached as I walked to the smoothie bar. I was dressed in lazy sweatpants and a hoodie and I probably looked a wreck, my hair was all over the place, but I was so exhausted. As I walked in through the doors, I saw Hoshi awkwardly waiting beside the twins. They were all dressed in normal clothes, all looking rich and tidy.

 

"Oh my god," Hoshi gasped when she saw me, "Who mugged you?"

 

I laughed sarcastically, "Very funny."

 

"I thought you had gone home to rest?" Hikaru inquired, looking me head to toe as if I was an animal.

 

"Well, everyone at home had other plans for me," I groaned, "Two hours of training!"

 

Hoshi patted my head, even though she had way longer training sessions for running.

 

"Is that why you're covered in bruises?" asked Kaoru.

 

"In my household, there is contact, shows you're a better fighter if you bruise someone. I don't bruise easily."

 

"I'll buy you a drink, Koray," Hoshi insisted and ran off.

 

Hikaru motioned to a table for two and I slumped onto my chair with a huff. He sat beside me and took out a notebook. I grabbed my bag and dumped my math books onto the table and closed my eyes. Meanwhile, Hikaru began flipping through my notebooks, which were, in fact, covered in doodles. Hoshi passed me over a berry energy smoothie and slowly walked over to where Kaoru sat reading over whatever work he had brought.

 

I faced Hikaru who looked at my jotter with what looked like disgust.

 

"I can't be that bad?" I groaned at him.

 

"It's not that," he muttered, and suddenly turned to face me, "You've been given pretty bad formulas to use. Like these," he pointed out, "These have way too much working involved. Has your teacher not shown you the other formula?"

 

"There's another formula?" I groaned.

 

"It's almost as if they are giving you the formula's that are time consuming so it looks like you've done more, these are pretty simple with the right formula."

"So what you're saying is that they're making us do something more difficult than it should be because we can't do more?"

 

"As if they want you to stay in that class but feel more fulfilled by longer workings."

 

"Stupid rich school wanting to please the stupid rich kids," I mumbled, "Why don't you show me the new formulas?"

 

"Alright," and that's when Hikaru made the math I did seem like slicing bread. Though at times I almost fell asleep and wanted to scream at him, he actually did help. When I did a much as I could take, I told him that we should stop, especially since it was almost 10pm and the smoothie bar was still open.

 

I looked over at Hoshi, who was listening to Kaoru talking in great depth, but I heard something concerning Hikaru and myself. I rested my head on Hikaru's comfy shoulder as I couldn't take the tiredness that was overwhelmed me. He looked pretty uncomfortable about the situation which made me just stay there because his reaction was so funny.

 

"You know they're talking about us right?" I lifted my head.

 

"Yeah? What are they saying?" Hikaru asked, still looking pretty uncomfortable.

 

"Well, I heard something about a theory and then that they were betting that you were going to date me or Haruhi by the end of the month."

 

"What?" Hikaru awkwardly laughed, rubbing the back of his head, making me laugh.

 

"Then again, I might be delirious, but that's what I heard. I think they're wrong though," I say, which results in a confused face from Hikaru. I shook my head, " I think they'll be the one's dating by the end of this month."

 

"Really? What makes you say that?" Hikaru asked, completely oblivious to what was right in front of him.

 

I yawned. "Well, he and Hoshi are so close and they actually have a chance." Hikaru still looked confused. I started packing away my things and chuckled about how ignorant he was. "Thanks for this great tutoring and hopefully I'll past the test. I'll be going now. Byeee, Hoshi!"

 

With that I ran out the smoothie shop and all the way home.

 

After school the next day, I ran to the Host Club, the happiest I had felt for a while. I burst through and saw Hoshi sitting at a table, as Kaoru hovered near her in conversation with her. Hikaru stood close to his brother. I raced over, the fastest I could but everything hurt from last's night's training. "I did it!" I cried out, "I FREAKING did it!"

 

I pushed the paper in front of Hoshi and her eyes widened in surprise. "But how?"

 

"A FREAKING PLUS, HOSHI!" I clapped happily as she passed my paper over to Hikaru. "THANK YOU!" I yelled at Hikaru, hugging him, which must have been an effect of how high I was feeling from the adrenaline pumping through me. He looked extremely lost for words.


	10. 9 - The Date

** Hoshi **

 

The Hitachiin cottage was a lot bigger than I expected. And by a lot, I meant that had to phone Kaoru for directions after half an hour of trying to find the dining room.

He laughed more than a supportive friend should have, and only stopped laughing when he told Hikaru what had happened. They could at least have waited until I hung up before they had a ten minute laughing fit. Rude.

 

Kaoru's voice sounded a bit croaky, and I was slightly worried about him. But breakfast called, and I figured that he could wait.

 

After eventually locating the dining room and being served croissants and pain au chocolat by a smiling maid, I hopped in a town car and made my way to the hotel.

 

I was greeted by Hikaru.

 

"I've been expecting you."

 

"Um... ok?"

 

"Can you look after Kaoru for me today?" He looked worried and I was immediately concerned.

 

"Why? What's wrong with him?"

 

"He has a cold and he wants me to go on a date with Haruhi for him as he can't go anymore. So I need you to stay with him for the day."

 

"Kaoru had a date with Haruhi?" For some reason that made me feel a slightly ill.

 

"Uh... yeah. So Kamiya. You alright to look after him?"

 

"Yeah, sure." I answered miserably, feeling a hell of a lot more subdewed then when I had woken up this morning. Even more than when I got lost. Maybe I ate too much breakfast? That was a probable answer.

 

When did a few croissants become too many croissants? Twenty. Definitely twenty.  And coincidently, that was the amount that I'd eaten this morning.

 

I pushed past Hikaru and jogged up the stairs to the twins' room. I pushed the door open a bit more forcefully than I'd otherwise intended to, and heard a crash and resounding "ouch" from the other side.

 

Peering round it, I saw Kaoru lying on the floor massaging his nose, which was bleeding.

 

"You're supposed to be ill! Why are you up and dressed?"

 

"You just hit me in the face with a door and that's what you chose to say?!" He looked a bit put out.

 

"Oh, Er, right. Sorry, I guess."

 

"You guess?" He raised an eyebrow.

 

"Yes, I guess! Now back to my previous point. You're supposed to be ill. So how come you're not and

Hikaru's going on  _your_ date with Haruhi?"

 

"Oh that? Yeah, it's all part of my plan."

 

"Plan?"

 

"Yes.  Let me explain."

 

So the the general gist of it was that Kaoru wanted Hikaru to go on a date with Haruhi so that he'd figure out his feelings for her. At least I thought that was what he was saying. I got a bit confused.

 

"Oh yeah, I just realised." He looked around the room as though he'd just remembered  that he'd lost something. "Where's Koray?"

 

"Asleep maybe? Actually she did say something about going shopping. I haven't seen her all morning."

 

"Hmm." He looked thoughtful, but I didn't question it. I was already confused enough as it was.

 

We decided to fill the others in on Kaoru's plan, so left the room and walked downstairs together. I slipped on a step and Kaoru had to grab my hand to stop me from falling. When we eventually reached the others, I realised that they were giving us very odd looks. I looked at Kaoru.  He looked at me. We both looked down. And suddenly we were both on opposite sides of the room. Kaoru had a horrified expression on his face and I was pretty sure that mine mirrored it.

 

"WHY WERE YOU GUYS HOLDING HANDS! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? ARE YOU TWO DATING?!" Tamaki was yelling as if his life depended on it.

 

"I think it would be nice if kao-chan and Hoshi-chan were dating. I think they would make a cute couple. Don't you think so too Takeshi?"

 

"Mmm"

 

"I don't know what this would do for the club though. We could lose income if it turns out that one of our club members is in a relationship. Would you two mind keeping this a secret?"

 

All of the host club members were talking at once and it was actually quite scary. Eventually I plucked up the courage to shout back.

 

"WE ARE NOT DATING! I JUST SLIPPED DOWN THE STAIRS, THAT'S ALL."

 

"Are you sure that is all that happened?" Kyoya was looking at me closely. It felt like he was staring deep into my soul.

 

"Yes. Definitely.  I am very sure." I nodded my head repeatedly to make sure that I was getting the point across fully.

 

Kyoya looked satisfied with this, so I wandered over to where Hunny-sempai and Mori-sempai were sitting and took the seat next to them. It took no time at all for Kaoru to explain his plan to the others, and soon we were watching Haruhi and Hikaru meeting up in town. Tamaki looked incredibly angry and was yelling at Kaoru.  At one point I was pretty sure that he'd actually breathed fire.

 

A pretty shop to my left caught my eye, and in closer inspection I realised that it was a bakery. The outside was painted light blue and there were flowers adorning the windowsills.

 

"Wow, Kaoru, I can't believe you're that observant. Can you believe that Kamiya?" I noticed that Tamaki was looking at me somewhat expectantly.

 

"Huh?"

 

"About Hikaru and how he's never had to understand his emotions because he's been cut off from the world.  You know, the stuff that Kaoru was just talking about!"

 

"Oh, yeah, right. Very observant. Good for you Kaoru!" I had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

 

Apparently nor did the host club. They all kind of just stared at me. Kaoru had an almost sad expression on his face. But he gave me a small smile when I raised an eyebrow at him.

 

The rest of the morning was spent following Hikaru and Haruhi around the town, until finally Kaoru decided that it was time for us to head back to the hotel. I was extremely relieved as I had been staring to feel faint with hunger and my stomach had emitted several dying whale like sounds in the past ten minutes. Maybe I should've eaten a few more croissants this morning.

 

We were staring to walk back when Kaoru grabbed my arm and began pulling me down a side street.

 

"Hey! What are you doing?" I struggled against his grip but he refused to let go. The others were all watching us, bemused.

 

"We'll catch up with you guys later!" Kaoru called to them. "Now let's us have a nice little chat." He whispered to me, a smirk forming on his face.

 

"What about?"

 

"How can you tell us apart?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"Me and Hikaru. You can tell us apart. How?"

 

"I don't know. I guess because your voices are slightly different. And you're nicer to me. And Hikaru calls me Kamiya instead of Hoshi."

 

He nodded his head thoughtfully for a couple of seconds.

 

"What about Koray? Same reasons, or?"

 

"No idea. I've never thought to ask."

 

"Well. That's settled then. How about some lunch?"

 

I was a bit taken aback by his sudden change in attitude.  But I never could argue if there was food on offer.

 

"Sounds great!"

 

Kaoru led us along the street until we ended up outside of the bakery I'd spotted earlier. The sign above the door proclaimed that it was the Taurus bakery.

 

"You wanted to go here right?" He smiled down at me.

 

"Yes. It looks great. Thanks."

 

We ate cupcakes decorated with bright pink icing and discussed school and our families. It was nice to just talk to him without Hikaru and he didn't even laugh when somehow managed to get icing on my forehead. Well he didn't laugh that much anyway.

 

We eventually left and walked back to the hotel. I had just gotten through the front door when Hunny-sempai ran up to us.

 

"Kao-chan, it's Hikaru. He ran away from Arai earlier and Haruhi went after him. Neither of them have returned and it's raining even more heavily now."

 

"Yes Hunny-sempai, we are aware of that!" I teased, hopping to break the tension.

 

"Its not funny! They're lost and we don't know where they are."

 

And all at once my day went from reasonably all right to down right awful.  


 

** Koray **

 

Once Hoshi had left after devouring the Hitachiin cottage's whole pain au chocolate range, I emerged from the room I was given. I had hidden myself from her since we got there, after my argument with Hikaru I just didn't want to see any more people.  


Today, I felt like I had cooled off, yes, I was still annoyed but now I felt like I could be somewhat better. I planned to go into the town to buy some more clothes now it seemed as if the hosts wanted to stay in Karuizawa for more than a few days. Using the gps on my phone, I made my way into the town.

 

The air was as fresh as Madam Mezuzu had said and the sights were gorgeous. I spent  good hour or two just looking round and taking pictures as I had managed to grab my camera before leaving. After looking up clothing places on my phone, I found that Karuizawa had none of the designer labels that I liked. I had debating whether or not to get one of the Mafia members to come and take me home but despite how mad I felt, I wanted to spend time with the people I could hopefully call friends. I had thought that my parents could lend me one member to deliver some of my clothes but no, they are too busy for me, as always.

 

I proceeded to the small nearby mall. But again, I didn't like any of the clothes. I did tell myself at first that, they're just clothes, doesn't matter what I choose, I can burn them when I get home, but I also felt as though the clothes I buy here should make me remember the fun times I'd have here. If I were to have any fun times.

 

I had headed back to the Main Street, all hopes lost when I found a small ally way that lead to a small Indian patterns shop filled with tie-dyes and incense. I opened the door and inhaled the scent, choking slightly as it was extremely strong. An old man sat waiting in the corner with a cash register, but the look he gave me was if to say he knew me. I gazed around and sure enough, this place was definitely more unusual than the others. ' _Good-bye designer labels_ ' I thought to myself as I picked out a few things and asked the man for a changing room. I ended up loving everything I tried on, the-dye t-shirts, balloon pants, ripped up dresses, weird woollen hoodies, the works. I decided to wear this ripped up black dress out with me.   


I payed the man and he looked incredibly happy to see I loved the clothes, he continued to play with the card pack he was arranging. "Tarot deck," he pointed to them, "I show your path."

 

"Path to what exactly?" I asked, almost whispering because I was surprised.

 

"Whatever you seek," he chuckled, "I see your heart on your sleeve, I see you are controlling the emotions your mind wants to feel. Let your heart lead." He asked me to choose three cards, and I did so. "You live life in a cage where the key is left on the table free for you to take. You want freedom, you want to feel but it is as if you hold yourself back and not those who try to keep you. You will find a way to escape yourself, just welcome people into your heart first." He smiles.

 

"What is that suppose to mean?" I ask, almost offended that he was being so submissive.

 

He chuckles, "You tell me, I gave you a tarot reading, you owe me."

 

My mouth opened in shock of how this guy had swindled me into giving him more money. "You, sir, are too smart, I think." I said as I passed over most of the money I had saved for a cab, I didn't mind. I could have raged at him for wasting my money but my family has a lot of money, blood money, and I hated it on my hands, so giving it out in nice ways felt better.

 

"I am wise," he smiles, "Don't think for a second the reading was false though, my readings never lie."

 

I smile at the man and the leave with my many bags. After ten minutes of walking through the town with this many bags, my arms started to grow tired. To my luck, I saw Arai next a truck, crossing things off of a list.

 

"Arai!" I called over to him and he looked up surprised.

 

"Hey, Koray, it's great to see you," he smiled then looked to me as I huffed, putting my bags down. "Looks like you've had a hard day," we laugh, "need a lift to the hotel? I'm just getting everything for this order but I'll be finished soon."

 

"That's so nice of you, but I think I need coffee before I go," I then raised an eyebrow, "It'd be  great if you could drop off my bags though? If you can?"

 

"Of course," he smiles and I pass over my bags which weighs him down a bit. "See you later then?"

 

"Thank youuu!" I wave and leave. I take the remains  of my money and head into one of the local shops and sit down for a while. I watched the small town and the people in it, till the rain started to pour down, which encouraged me to stay inside before I walked back to the Hitachiins cottage seeing as I had no money for a cab. "Should've accepted Arai's offer... stupid coffee." I mumbled after taking a sip.

 

I picked up my jacket and started to leave the cafe, till I was under the eaves of the building, I groaned, as my jacket was leather, not exactly waterproof. That's when I saw a familiar ginger twin looking through the window into the cafe, looking quite frantic.

 

After debating whether to talk to him or not, I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, "Uh, Hikaru, are you  _alright_?"

A crack of thunder rippled through the skies. "Koray, thank  _god_ , you have to help me! I've lost Haruhi!" He grabbed my arms, his eyes filled with panic.

 

"Wait,  _I'm_  lost. What are you talking about?" 

 

He shook me, "Haruhi, I left her, I was supposed to be a good host! But I  _fucking_  ran off!"

 

"What do you mean you  _ran_  off? I thought she was working?"

 

"I took her on a date for Kaoru but then I saw Arai and he offered us a lift and I should've taken it, Haruhi's terrified of thunder, how did I not see that? Why am I always last to figure stuff out?"

 

I stared at him for a moment. "You took Haruhi on a  _date_?" It sounded colder than it should have been but I didn't know what had come over me.

 

"Kaoru asked her out on a date, but he was too ill to go so he asked me to do it... wait that's not important. You have to help me, Koray, everyone will kill me for this!"

 

"Ever stopped to think that reason would just make you a selfish person," I glared coldly and folded my arms.

 

Hikaru looked offended, "Hey, I didn't  _mean_  to lose her! At least I'm  _trying_  to make it better!"

 

"You still  _lost_  though! Come on!" I ran out into the rain as Hikaru explained the exact details of how it happened. "You're such an egomaniac." We got to Arai's uncle's shop where I turn to Hikaru. "Okay, which direction did you go?"

 

"Why would that matter we're looking for Haru-"

 

"Unlike thinking about herself,  _Hikaru_ , Haruhi would've have gone after  _you_...in the same direction. Let's go, come on!"

 

He pointed to the right and we carried on running, I was completely soaked, my hair was limp around my face. "What made you think that you could possibly make it up to Haruhi after yesterday by leaving her like this?"

 

"I don't know,  _Koray_!" He yelled back defensively at me, "Why are  _you_  so mad at me for this?"

 

"I just would've thought after yesterday, you would have learned!" I laughed icily into the air and stopped to catch my breath. Hikaru stopped behind me, wheezing.

 

"Seriously, Koray, what is your deal? At least I'm trying to make up for what _I_  did!"

 

"What the  _hell_  is that suppose to mean?" I whipped my head round fast to him.

 

"Why do you  _hate_  me so much? What the  _hell_  did I do?" Hikaru accused.

 

I shivered, rain dripped down my face, and I was pretty sure my make-up was a mess too. I whipped my hair out my face and shook my head. Hikaru waited for my reply I didn't realise how close Hikaru was to me.

 

"I-I don't," I stuttered, "I don't hate you, Hikaru. You just  _confuse_  me, y-you  _infuriate_  me! But I do like you too, Hikaru. You were actually a good friend."

 

"You never act like you think so!"

 

"I'm confusing,  _remember_? I don't know how to show people my emotions that well. Especially when I like them."

 

"You like me?" Hikaru questions and I had no clue if it were playful or not, but it was not the right time.

 

"As a fr-" Thunder clapped above us and I remembered why we were out here, "Let's find Haruhi, we can talk later!"

 

We began to run again and we ran and ran fast. At some point, Hikaru grew slower, whereas I, who trained a lot, grabbed his hand and pulled him along, though it was hard in the slippery rain.

 

Soon, though, we ran past a small church with its doors slightly open, and I guessed this must be where Haruhi took refuge. I pulled Hikaru inside and I shook off the rain. The church looked as though passersby could enter anyways, so at least we weren't trespassing. Another clap of thunder rumbled above and I turned to where a small whimper came from under the alter.   


 "Go to her," I hissed at Hikaru.

 

"What about you?" He whispered back.

 

"I'll take a seat here, its better if it looks like you've found her."

 

"But that's not the truth?"

 

"It is for now." I sighed as I took a seat on a pew while I watched Hikaru take a cloth off of the alter to put around Haruhi, he gave her his headphones and sat with her for a while and apologised. I looked around  and took off my jacket. I sat and reflected for a while on my argument with Hikaru yesterday and maybe i was a little harsh on him. The church was making me uncomfortable and all I could do was think and think about my brother and I started to panic till-

 

Haruhi must have calmed down because Hikaru then emerged and sat on the pew in front of me and turned around. He must have seen my expression but I changed it fast and gave him a weak smile. 

 

"She okay?" I ask, stopping any conversation about my feelings.

 

"Yeah," Hikaru sighed, "I feel terrible."

 

"At least you made up for it," I shivered

 

Silence passes over us before Hikaru looked back at me, "So Koray Rikimaru actually likes me?"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, "In a way. You're such a fucking idiot but you're an okay idiot." I rubbed at my cold arms, feeling the goosebumps.

 

"I called Kyoya to come get us," Hikaru chuckled, "Jeez you look freezing, Koray!"

 

"Do I now?" Before I could stop myself, a sneeze exploded from me and I quickly covered my mouth but the damage was done and I had made the worst noise possible.

Hikaru stared at me stunned, "How is it possible that a girl as tough as you sneezes like that?"

 

"I don't know, maybe it's my genes," I grumble. Hikaru started laughing hysterically. "Hey, stop laughing at me!" I yelled before I let out another sneeze. That's when Hikaru seemed to have realised that he had caused this. He scooted round and put his arm around my shoulder. "What are you-"

 

"I don't have another alter sheet," he sighed and pulled me closer, "I did this to you, Koray and I'm sorry," before I protested he carried on, "Friends care for each other, right?" That's when I really started debating what was really going on between myself and Hikaru.


	11. 10 - Adventure in Commoner Land

**Third Person PoV**  
  
  
"Two girls on an adventure in the land of commoners! What will they find? How many amazing new people will they meet?"

 

"This will be an adventure like no other! An adventure that will echo through the centuries! Stories will be told of this adventure in years to come!"

 

"Shhhh"

 

Kamiya Hoshi and Rikimaru Koray looked around in bewilderment. An old lady was glaring at them, an accusing finger placed on her lips. The two girls bowed apologetically and tried not to laugh. The old lady continued to glare at the two girls as they sidled away, shaking from suppressed laughter.

 

"We might have been speaking a little too loudly." Koray managed to splutter out between her laughter.

 

"You don't say!" Hoshi blurted, and they both had to sit down from laughing so much.

 

"Well at least some of us are having a good morning." A dark shadow loomed over them menacingly.

The two girls stopped laughing and backed up in their seat.

 

"Kyoya-senpai?"

 

"HARUHI!" Koray stood up and ran over to their friend, wrapping her arms around her and giving her a hug.

 

Hoshi looked at the figure next to her more closely and realised that it was in fact their scary senpai. She gave him a small wave, but he ignored her and adjusted his glasses, fixing Haruhi with a look.

 

"Haruhi. How much money do you have?"

 

"Huh?"

 

A few minutes later and the four of them were sitting in a fast food restaurant, eating burgers. The atmosphere was incredibly awkward as the three girls all watched Kyoya devour his burger at an alarming rate. As Haruhi eventually commented on Kyoya's lack of finesse, Koray leaned over the table to talk to Hoshi without being overheard.

 

"It was a bit of a dick move on Kyoya-senpai's part making Haruhi pay for this. We could have easily given him the money. What the hell is he thinking?"

 

Hoshi scrunched up her face, thinking a little.

 

"I offered to pay but he just glared at me. I thought that it might be something to do with her debt, but he says he's going to make Tamaki-senpai reimburse her for everything, so why is he being like this?"

 

"I CAN HEAR YOU, YOU KNOW?" Kyoya was towering over them, pure evil emanating from her glare.

 

They were kicked out of the fast food restaurant. Apparently you can't scream at your friends in a public space without being removed. That was what the young girl behind the counter told them anyway as she blushed bright red and avoided eye contact with Kyoya.

 

Hoshi and Koray waved goodbye to Haruhi and Kyoya as they ran off in the opposite direction to look at the festival stalls at the other end of the shopping mall.

 

"I feel bad for Haruhi, but I just couldn't spend any more time with Kyoya-senpai." Koray whispered to Hoshi, glancing back at their departing friends to make sure that they were out of earshot. They weren't. Both girls shivered at the look on Kyoya's face.

 

They quickly forgot about Kyoya's anger however, as they found themselves surrounded by stalls filled with commoner merchandise. Bright coloured papers hung over stalls filled with foods from all over the world. Of course there were Japanese foods for sale as well. Vans selling Okonomiyaki, Imagawayaki and Taiyaki had been driven into the mall and were intermingled with the more exotic foods. Both girls were used to eating exotic foods, so they both purchased Taiyaki and walked along munching on their fish shaped cakes.

The excitement of the festival was overwhelming and they skipped around happily taking it all in. After half an hour they both had bags brimming with souvenirs. Hoshi was wearing a rilakkuma hat which Koray found hilarious and she kept poking it with her new gudetama chopsticks. It was as they were walking along a side corridor that Hoshi asked a question that neither of them had considered before this point.

 

"We got a lift from Arai with Haruhi. How are we going to find her in this place?"

 

And with that, panic set in. they both sprinted back in the direction they'd come from only torealise that they were completely lost.

 

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE HERE!" Hoshi all but screamed in despair.

 

"Don't be stupid, we're not going to die!" Koray still looked concerned though.

 

"This is a missing child announcement. Could Kyoya Ootori please make his way to the customer service desk."

 

Neither of them heard any more of this announcement as they had both started sprinting along the corridor.

 

"WHERE ARE WE GOING? KORAY? WHERE ARE YOU?" Hoshi slowed down and looked behind her to see

Koray standing in the middle of the corridor trying catch her breath.

 

"Shit Hoshi, we aren't all Olympic standard runners."

 

"sorry! I forgot you weren't very athletic."

 

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"

 

"Um... nothing?"

 

"IT BETTER MEAN NOTHING!"

 

"WILL YOU GIRLS SHUT UP!" An angry stall holder yelled.

 

"SORRY!" They both bowed.

 

"Shhhh!"

 

Eventually, after asking for directions from a young couple, they ended up walking in the right direction.

 

"We should be nearly there now. That couple said that the customer service desk is at the end of this corridor."

 

"That's good..... we're nearly there then...... Jesus Koray you're heavier than you look. I can't believe you twisted your ankle running over such a short distance!"

 

"SHUT UP! AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN HEAVIER THAN I LOOK?"

 

"I mean you should probably cut down on the Taiyaki."

 

"RUDE!"

 

"I'm joking. I'm joking."

 

They reached the end of the corridor and looked over to the left where a room with a desk was situated. A smiley lady was sitting behind them looking at them questioningly. Unfortunately, none of the host club appeared to be there.

 

"Excuse me? Do you know if Kyoya Ootori was ever found by his friends?" Koray had gotten off of Hoshi's back and hobbled over to the desk.

 

"Why yes. He left with his friends about ten minutes ago. And such good looking boys they were too." She sighed.

 

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT FOR TWISTING YOUR STUPID ANKLE!"

 

"MY FAULT! MAYBE YOU COULD HAVE WALKED A LITTLE FASTER."

 

"WELL IT WAS DIFFICULT AS I HAD TO LUG AROUND YOU ON MY BACK!"

 

"WELL EXCUSE ME!"

 

"Shhhhhh" everyone in the room shushed them.

 

"Sorry" They bowed in unison.

 

Koray turned to the lady behind the desk who was looking a little scared.

 

"I think you're going to have to make another announcement."


	12. 11 - Home in Time for a Funeral

Koray

After the week had passed we were soon returned home from Karuizawa and I could not have felt any worse about coming home than I did. During the week in Karuizawa, after the whole date drama had passed, I received a call from my mother saying they had finally managed to transport my brother's body home, which meant that we could finally have a funeral. The rest of my time in Karuizawa I spent ignoring the fact I would come home to the body of my dead brother, and going through the torture of a family funeral. I never dared to tell anyone for the sake of not being treated like a broken doll, which could happen, these friends were very caring but i was in no way ready to break down in front of them. Especially not in front of Hikaru when we were finally friends again, getting so close, but he couldn't see me cry. I had an image of strength to uphold.

When I got home my father told me that the casket would be arriving that very same day, which was somehow convenient. He looked distressed, like he always had done since Akio died. I saw guilt pour down his face like a waterfall and I couldn't help but question why. Was it because he hadn't stopped Akio from leaving? Is it because they never paid any attention to his real needs? Or was there something way deeper? I wasn't going as far as to question whether my dad knew my brother would have died on that mission, I knew he would never go that far and definitely would have stopped Akio if he had known.

I walked into my room to find a black dress waiting for me on my bed. If I had remembered anything from the conversations my brother and I used to have was the mistake of wearing black to a funeral. I saw it as a symbol of mourning like everyone else but he changed my opinion, he saw it as dull and lifeless. And if there's one thing he hated it was people acting like the dead while they were still alive, much like how I sometimes feel these days. Though I had always got depressed, even before my brother's death and he had always pulled me through. That whole phase of not going to elementary school because of how I behaved in pre-school and how I rebelled and went to Lobeliah middle-school which was full of fake girls who'd push you into the dirt at any opportunity. 

I collapsed on my bed in a fit of despair, crying out for my brother, the whole reality crashing down on my, as I had kept it in this past month. I cried for at least ten minutes, face buried in my sheets till I pulled myself up and looked around the room. I couldn't wear black for him; I couldn't betray him that way. I had already betrayed him already, he had told me to find his girlfriend and give her a message but I couldn't remember her name, I didn't think it would be important till he died.

After my mother came into my room commanding me to get ready as we'd be leaving in 20 minutes, I dragged myself to my wardrobe. I looked through it till I found my favourite skirt, one I hadn't worn for a long time. A long, white tutu that I wore at the last mafia me and my brother had gone to, which was around a year ago. We just had to stand there and look presentable. My mother had wanted me to wear a formal dress but my brother told me to be myself and I did.

I wore the skirt with an off-the-shoulder, long sleeve black top and paired it with the black heels my mother had left out with the black dress. I was wearing some black; I had to please everyone after all. I was about to grab my leather jacket from its hook till a thought came to my head. I left it where it was, turned off my light and tiptoed over to my brothers room which had been closed off since when I had last been in there, my mother forbidding me to sleep in there again.

I opened his wardrobe and looked through his jackets till I found the right one, his favourite red, leather jacket. It was very worn and it smelt exactly like him, and it took me a moment to not cry again and ruin the make-up I had done. He wanted to dye his hair this exact shade of red but my mother forbid it, telling her that the family colour was our signature ice blonde and he'd be disgraceful to have red. I slipped on the jacket and went on my way. 

My mother texted to tell me that they had left and the last limo was waiting for me, though it would leave if I did not get there in the next minute. I raced into my limo and it somewhat sped to the graveyard. We would normally have a family funeral at the house before a procession to the burial, but we had already had most of our speeches the weekend of his death, which was nothing to talk about, I don't remember it and quite frankly, I didn't want to.

When I arrived at the church my family was waiting by the gates, everyone talking and yelling down their, anything but mourning for my brother. As soon I stepped out the limo my mother strode over to me and looked me up and down. She lowered her sunglasses ever so slightly and glared.

"That is not the dress I laid out for you," she pointed out dully, "It was a Hitachiin label."

"Yeah, well, I didn't like it," I mumbled.

My mother sighed and flipped her icy blonde curls over her shoulder, "Always trying to make the day about you, Koray."She then shook her head, "And red at a funeral? Do you know nothing about respect for the dead."

"I respect that my brother had asked for colour when he dies, and that should be enough," I retorted before walking away from her, wanting to get this over with.

I found my uncle amongst the people, his icy-blonde hair standing out from the other mono-tone colours. He looked vaguely interested in the graves scatted about the place. "Hi," I muttered, greeting him with some sort of half-hearted handshake.

"Koray, a very sad time it must be for you," he consoled, eyeing up my jacket with a raised eyebrow, "Though receiving the hand-me-downs won't be?"

I shook my head and scoffed, "I realised they were going to bury him without his favourite jacket, I didn't know what else to do. Do you know if it's open casket?"

"Its closed, we don't know how roughed up he would have been," my uncle looked at the ground and smoothed out his moustache with his pointer-finger and thumb.

"Is there any way we could have them open it?" I asked him somewhat pleadingly.

He sensed my distress but it still didn't stop him from looking slightly concerned about that question. "Isn't that a bit morbid, Koray? I have my kids here."

I nodded, "I just thought I could lay it on him and they could close it." I wasn't going to mention the morbid fact that I had actually wanted to see him.

My uncle patted my back and one of his younger kids raced over, "Daddy! They say we're going to get cake!" That was Misa, my youngest cousin. 

She had blonde hair, but it wasn't the icy blonde like my mother, uncle, brother and myself, it was the strawberry blonde of my aunt. My aunt had been a rich Ouran student my uncle had fallen in love with, a princess or something, but she wasn't in line for the throne and lost a lot of money marrying my uncle. It was a better love story than my mother and father. My mother married because she was the eldest and couldn't be the heir unless she had a husband by her side. So during most early meetings it was my father who acted like he was in charge, though my mother did everything else, till it became normal that she acted more like the boss than he did.

I smiled at Misa, she was the one who reminded me of Hunny-senpai. I crouched at her height, "What kind of cake will it be, Misa?" Despite being uneasy around other people and children, Misa had a way of being unlike anyone you had ever known.

"Strawberry, I hope!" She giggled and gave me a hug. She also wore white and giggled at the site of my skirt, "Twinsies!"

I gave a laugh and smiled, "Strawberry was Akio's favourite, so I hope its strawberry too."

My uncle looked at the two of us with a lost smile before sighing, "Couldn't get her to wear black, she hates it."

"Good," I hugged Misa again and patted her head, "She should never like it."

"Come on, Misa, we should leave Koray to prepare herself." My uncle then came closer to me and whispered, "say a few words for him, Koray, your mother wouldn't want you to but its what's right." I nodded and smiled, waving goodbye to Misa.

The funeral began as we all stood outside the family vault in the graveyard. The casket sat at the vaults mouth on its stand, ready to be swallowed by it forever. It was black and I internally scolded myself for not wrestling my mother to make it crimson. The priest said a few words, and then my mother stood at the head of the vault, beside the casket, yet she did not touch it, and kept some distance.

"We regret that our son, Akio, was murdered by the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia, "she started her speech. "He was said to have put up a fight, though we know that we all must fight harder to survive. He was the heir to our family, and we regret that we have lost such a smart son. But we must move forward, and start from fresh. So here's to an heir we have lost and here's to an heir we will find." She stepped down I noticed that she never took off her sunglasses.

She was about to signal to casket to move when I trotted forward. I stopped at the casket and lay my hand on the cold surface, my back facing my family, the mafia. I breathed slowly for a moment, letting a single tear slip till I turned around. 

"My brother," I cleared my throat, "He never liked the colour black. He said it was too dark, too soulless. And I stand here now, and all I see is a sea of black, just like where he now lies forever." I saw my mother glare at me from where she stood, she had moved forward, but my uncle held her back. "Akio, you were always an inspiration to me. Never the best of fighters - physically, but you always had fight in you. Always told me when to break the rules, and held me back when you knew I'd go too far," that earned some sort of laugh, "I will try my best to follow in your footsteps, and be the person you taught me to be. Akio, you were a rainbow in the cloud covered sky and you always will be."

Despite that coming off the top of my head, I assumed it was a good speech. I took off his jacket in front of everyone and lay it on his casket. I walked away, not bearing to look back as it was taken down into the vault. My father was about to stop me but he saw the look in my eye and knew if he talked to me it would be a mistake.

It wasn't till I reached the graveyard gates that someone caught up with me. It wasn't my parents or my uncle. It was my other cousin, Kazuo, my uncle's eldest son who was the same age as me. His hair was the same colour as mine, but it was smarter than my brother's had been which was usually messy. His was some sort of sleeked back quiff. The last time I had seen him he never dressed so formally. My uncle was raising him for business. He didn't attend Ouran but studied at another private school somewhere in Tokyo.

"Your speech, you said you'd follow in your brother's footsteps," he muttered, breathing heavily form running. "Does that mean you're the new heir?"

"No, that's not what I meant," I mumbled.

"My father said that I should be heir," he told me.

"Did he?" I rolled my eyes, "Look, Kaz, I honestly don't care who's heir, just let it be and wait till they decide."

"Do you think I should be?" He somehow had always looked up to me and my brother, how we got along with each but not our parents, whereas Kazuo was close with his family. He respected my opinion I guess, he was more action than thoughts, which was why he was never considered an heir though my brother was older anyways.

"Kaz, I don't think anything except that if they offer it to you then you should think about it first before you accept. My brother never had that advice and now he's dead."

I then left without saying a word. I didn't wait for a limo I walked home, without a jacket as the rain poured down on me. I saw a rainbow in the sky before the sun set, and I somehow felt uplifted that maybe things could change.


	13. 12 - Halloween

** Hoshi **

 

Jessie Drakon was exactly the same as I remembered him. Sandy blonde hair, twinkling brown eyes, and a mouth that appeared to be constantly upturned in a condescending smirk. His lanky frame was hunched over a laptop that he'd set up on the school steps. He must have sensed my presence, as he looked up and intensified his smirk. I stepped out from my hiding place behind the bins where I had been standing, and forced myself to walk over to him.

 

"It's nice to see you again Miss Kamiya." He had a southern American drawl, and, when he extended his hand towards me for a handshake, I noticed a shiny silver ring on his thumb, glinting in the sunlight.

 

"You as well, Mr Drakon." Oh no, I'd caught the drawl. I didn't even want to see him. I was about to tell him to go away. Why was I acting like I was happy to see him? What was I doing?

 

"Well I see you've realised that you need my help, huh? Isn't that right Miss?" He actually managed to intensify his smirk even further which I hadn't believed to be possible.

 

"No, I have not. I do not require your assistance and would appreciate it if you would leave now please." Great. Now I sounded like some kind of high and mighty princess.

 

"Is that so, little lady?" He winked at me.

 

"Don't call me little lady." God he was irritating.

 

"Alright, princess"

 

I hated him.

 

"Why cant you just leave me alone?"

 

"Leave you alone? Well I guess I could. You obviously don't want to know about the lead I got then?"

 

"Lead? What lead? Do you have a suspect? Where's my painting?"

 

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there little – "

 

"DON'T CALL ME LITTLE LADY!"

 

"I'm awfully sorry. Well then. Here's the file. I'll see you around little... Miss Kamiya." And with that he handed me a file, picked up his laptop, and walked away. Well swayed was a more accurate description.

That had all happened a week ago, before the Lobelia incident. Now I was sitting in class aa the teacher of whatever subject we were supposed to be learning about droned on and on. Koray was sitting next to me as usual, ferociously taking notes. I surreptitiously watched her out of the corner of my eye. She noticed me watching her and raised her eyebrows. I quickly broke eye contact and stared at the wall.

 

I still couldn't believe it. She was my friend. There was no way. And yet... I knew she was in the mafia. Of course I knew. Everyone knew. So should it have really come as a surprise when I opened that file and saw her face glaring up at me. No. it shouldn't have. That didn't make it any better though.

 

I had been so naïve. Her mafia literally had the word dragon it. "The dragons" That was what my Dad had said. And I saw no reason for Jessie Drakon to lie. When Anzu had found out about my search for a detective she'd been nothing but supportive. Even when I wouldn't tell her why I wanted one. It'd been her who recommended Jessie Drakon to me. When I'd first interviewed him, I'd thought she'd made some kind of mistake. But now? With results this quickly, could I really afford to question his abilities?

 

"Hoshi. HOSHI!" Koray was waving her hand in front of my face.

 

"Earth to Hoshi. The bell's rung already."

 

The classroom was indeed slightly emptier then it had been before. Koray had already started making her way towards the door, but I stayed where I was.

 

"Hoshi, lunch." Koray had noticed that I wasn't following her and was standing in the doorway watching me.

 

"Oh, yeah. I'll just pack my stuff and the I'll be on my way. You go on without me."

 

She shrugged and walked off while I shoved everything on the table into my bag. The file was in the side pocket and I considered taking it out, just to make sure that I hadn't got the wrong person, but I decided against it. I knew it was her.

 

By the time I'd made it to lunch, I had decided to just ignore my friends and eat lunch alone. I just needed some time for myself. Unfortunately for me, a pair of ginger twins had a different idea. I had just entered the canteen when I was attacked from both sides and dragged over to the usual table. They dumped me in a chair and took their own places at the table.

 

"What the hell guy... hey, who bought me lunch?"

 

"I did." Kaoru raised his hand. "You like pasta right? I can get you something else if you want? It's not a problem. What do you want?"

 

We all stared at him.

 

"It's all right, I'm fine with this." I smiled at him and he looked away quickly. I'd never really noticed this before, but he was kind of a weirdo.

 

I started eating my lunch as the others chatted about some Halloween thing that was happening in 1-A. 1-C was just having a Halloween tea party so I wasn't particularly excited about that. Koray had ended up having two Halloween events that she had to go to and I felt really sorry for her.

 

"So Hoshi, you'll join us right?" Koray was grinning at me from across the table.

 

"Join you when?"

 

"Tonight, for the Halloween thing."

 

"But it's Halloween tomorrow not today."

 

"Meh, details." Koray waved her hand dismissively.

 

"Please Hoshi. We need a group of four for the 1-A group activity and there aren't enough people." Anzu looked at me hopefully.

 

"What about the twins or Haruhi?"

 

"We somehow ended up in a group with our class president."

 

I rolled my eyes. "Twins?"

 

"Twins." She nodded.

 

"Don't talk about us like we're not here!" They chorused, wrapping their arms around each other and trying to look offended.

 

I was about to reply when I heard a voice that chilled me to the bone.

 

"Hellooo boys"

 

Anzu raised an eyebrow at me. "Is that...?"

 

"Hoshi woshi boshi doshi oshi. How are you, oh sister of mine? No, don't tell me. I heard about your Olympic trial last month. Apparently you qualified with time to spare! So you must be great! Am I right? Tell me I'm right!"

 

"Umm... you're right?"

 

She wrapped me in a hug and surveyed the others who were watching her in complete bewilderment. Well apart from Anzu who was used to my sister's antics.

 

"Kamiya Yuko. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Especially you fine specimens." She winked at the twins who shrunk back in terror.

 

"Yuko, you're five years older than them. Don't be creepy." I shoved her away and she laughed before she began poking Hikaru's cheek. I noticed Koray give her a fleeting dirty look. "Why are you even here, anyway?"

 

"Well sister of mine. I wanted to congratulate you about the Olympic thing, but what's this I hear about a Halloween thing?" Yuko drifted around Hikaru and rested her head on Kaoru's shoulder.

 

So I ended up telling her about the 1-A Halloween challenge and before I knew it I was hiding behind the third floor stairs with Anzu, Koray and my sister at 8:30pm on a Thursday.

 

I oversaw making sure that the fake slime didn't spill out of the bowl. It wasn't a particularly important job but it was all I had been trusted with.

 

"And then she tripped over and ended up lying in front of the lead executive. And our parents were laughing too much to help so she just stayed there!"

 

Oh right. And I was trying to ignore the fact that my sister was ruining my life by telling my friends every embarrassing thing that had ever happened to me. And my friends being the loyal people they were, were all but rolling on the floor laughing.

 

"Did you guys know that Hoshi is scared of cooking because of this one incident involving a spatula and a very disgruntled pigeon that she used to keep as a pet?"

 

Nope. She wasn't telling that story. That story was never going to be told by anyone ever.

 

"SO. WHEN ARE THE OTHER GROUPS GOING TO BE HERE? HAHAHAH" I waved my hands around like a mad person, effectively causing a distraction. Even if that distraction was the three of them staring at me like I was completely insane. Which, to be honest, I couldn't really blame them for.

 

I could see that Yuko was about to continue the story when we heard a loud crashing. And the sound of something sliding along the floor. Getting closer and closer...

 

 

** Koray **

 

A small round object appeared in front of us, and it looked like a ghouls head. Kamiya Yuko walked over to it and picked it up throwing it from side to side in her hands.  


"Huh," she laughed, "Not that scary. What kind of test of courage tournament is  _this_?"  


She laughed rather manically before I realised what exactly this ghouls head was supposed to be.  


"Oh God," I mumbled.  


"What?" Hoshi asked concerned.  


"That's one of those freaking noise alarm things!" I yelled.

 

"What do you mean?" Yuko chuckled still bouncing the ghouls head around.

 

"Yuko," I started, "If you drop that then the noise of hell will come out."  


"You trying to scare me?" she laughed aloud, "No chance." Then Yuko deliberately dropped the head and suddenly, it split open and the worst, high pitch screaming came out of the head, loud enough to be heard through the whole corridor.  


I slammed my hands over my ears before running in the other direction, not caring whether this was test of courage, this was way too loud for me to handle. I ran through the corridor, the screeching getting fainter and fainter till I heard someone that was running behind me. It was Hoshi.  


"Koray," she caught up with me, being surprisingly slow for an Olympic runner.  


"Too-fucking-loud," I breathed out heavily and bent over to catch my breath.  


"I'd say," Hoshi chuckled, "You ran outta there faster than my best record."  


"Where're the others?" I asked her, still surprised at how normal she seemed to be reacting for how introverted she'd been acting that week.  


"Lost them," but Hoshi smiled at this, "Poor Anzu, but I got away from my sister so I don't even care!" She punched the air triumphantly as we walked round the corner. But being Hoshi, she tripped over and face planted the ground.

 

We heard two familiar bursts of laughter from round the corner that belonged to two clones of the devil. Hoshi let out a groan as she got up, knowing what she was in for. There was no way to escape them as they already had us as their targets locked into view.

 

"Did you see how she punched?" Hikaru wheezed.  


"Then hit the ground!" Kaoru chuckled.  


Hoshi scowled at them as we stood our ground. "It's not funny!" Though she caught me out the corner of her eye as I had caught the giggles from the twins' laughter.  


"Hoshi," Haruhi stood up from her kneeling position beside the class rep. "Are you okay? That looked pretty sore."  


"I'm fine," Hoshi grumbled.  


"Any luck?" I asked the group.  


"Not seen anyone," Haruhi sighed.  


"This has been so boring!" Kaoru moaned.  


"What about you guys?" Hikaru asked, "How come you're here?"

 

Hoshi looked at me slightly evilly, "Well-"  


"The D group threw a thing at us and it was annoying," I cut her off.

 

"Yeah because it was loud and screaming like crazy so you ran off!" Hoshi started laughing.  


"You ran away from a loud thing?" Kaoru asked.

 

"I don't like really loud noises okay, it was annoying!"  


They all laughed at me, and Hoshi raised her eyebrow to say that we were even. Haruhi's face then grew sheet white and her smile drooped down.  


"Did you guys just see that?" she asked us sacredly, "that creepy shadow in the window?"  


"NOT YOU TOO, FUJIOKA!" Squealed the class rep, leaping up terrified.  


Suddenly we heard a thumping coming down the stairs behind them. We looked over to see a fake skull thud down the stairs and rolled towards Hikaru's shoe. And everyone but me screamed.

 

"Its a sneak attack from those A-team guys, right?" Kaoru pointed out.

 

"Hey, it's not your turn!" Hikaru yelled up the stairs, "Follow the rules!" with that, he kicked the skull back up the stairs.  


As he dusted his hands and Kaoru complimented his, "Nice shooting," I heard a groan coming from up the stairs.  
"Um guys?" I mumbled as Hikaru did a victory wave.  


"You kicked my skull," a groaning voice came from up the stairs. "That hurt." The tower bells for midnight sounded behind us as a stooped figure appeared at the top of the stairs.

 

"It couldn't be the clock tower witch?" Kaoru mumbled.  


"What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked, extremely confused at how afraid they were for a Halloween prank, even Hoshi was stuck into place, shaking.  


"Who kicked?" The figure asked in its scratching voice, "Who kicked my SKULL?" The figure revealed a gruesome zombie face beneath its long dark hair.  


I didn't have time to investigate who was under the costume seeing as everyone was screaming for their lives, scaring me half to death with the volume. Suddenly everyone was running around. While I stood there, flinching at the noise, I felt someone grab my arm and start running, and for the second time this same night, the group split up.


	14. 13 - Sentimental Speeches...And Nets

** Koray **

 

I looked up to see Hikaru dragging me along as he ran fast through the school corridors, Haruhi in front of us.   


"What the actual hell guys? What do you expect from a scare fest?" I yelled at them both who were still running fast. Unable to loosen Hikaru's grip, I was stuck running quickly to keep up with his longer legs. We got to a door where Haruhi dashed in, followed by me and Hikaru. Haruhi slammed the door closed behind us and kept running as we passed through another door till...  


Trip-  


Snap-  


Catch-  


We were stuck. Stuck a few metres above the ground. All three of us; Haruhi, Hikaru and me. We were squashed into a net. When a couple seconds had past and we had time to realise what had just happened, Hikaru began thrashing around and cried out for Kaoru. After I had kicked him over the head to get him to stop, we all lay there, unsure what to do seeing as we were arms and legs everywhere.

 

"I can get us out of here with my sewing scissors," Haruhi realised after feeling a blocky object in her pocket.  


"Wow," Hikaru remarked, "Even you have a feminine side."  


"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Haruhi glared, "You have a smart mouth."

 

"Hey, Kaoru has a smart mouth too, you know," Hikaru pouted.  


"Not on his own he doesn't," Haruhi laughs, "You only get worse, believe me."  


I chuckled, "It's true, you do get worse."Trying not to flash anyone, I held my skirt in place as I raised my leg and took out a knife in its mafia casing.  


"What the hell is that?" Haruhi asked as I unsheathed my knife.  


"It's my knife?" I answered defensively.  


"Why the hell do you have a knife?" asked Hikaru, his eyes quite fearful as he was closest to me and the knife.  


"Do you really expect a daughter of the mafia not to have a knife or any protection?" I stared at them both in disbelief, "Just because I don't like talking about my family doesn't mean I'm not a part of them."  


I huffed and made a grab for the top of the net, pulled myself up onto Hikaru and leaned over to where the net was knotted.  


"Wh-what are you doing?" he stuttered obviously concerned about how close we were at this point.  


"Oh, grow up," I glared, "This is the release knot to cut. If you're really that bothered I can do it as fast as I can."  


"No, it's alright," Hikaru blushed beneath me, "T-take your time."  


"Creep," Haruhi mumbled, seeing how Hikaru was facing my chest. Unfortunately, I was not flat chested like Haruhi and so it was harder for me to cover any cleavrige. I struggled for a while, sawing on the rope, which was incredibly thick for a small rope net. "Ow," Haruhi winced, scratching at her neck, "oh no."  


"What's wrong?" I stopped sawing to look at Haruhi, whose neck was bright red.  


"I think I'm allergic to this net," she scratched and rubbed at her neck.  


"Oh damn, well don't touch it," I advised. She looked at me with a sarcastic scowl. "I mean your rash, you obviously can't not touch the rope. I'll try to be fast." I sighed and kept going and sawing and breaking a few fibres every minute or two. Hikaru stirred beneath me uncomfortably, trying not to look at my chest.  


"What's up with you? Don't tell me you have a rope allergy too."  


"Nah," he mumbled and looked up at me, "only allergic to penicillin I'm afraid."  


"That's got to cause problems at some point right?" I chuckled and looked to Haruhi as I continued to saw, "Anything else we need to be wary of?"  


"Just this rope and thunderstorms," she grumbled beside me, which caused me to laugh.  


"Hey, what about you?" Hikaru moved beneath me.

 

"what about me?" I look down, sawing without looking.  


"Your allergies? Things to be wary of?"  


"I wouldn't tell you any more than you know. Have to be careful being part of the mafia, information is used against you. But my fears, heights and loud noises, what most normal humans are afraid of."  


"You know we're in a high up net right now?" Hikaru smirked.  


I snapped my head down, "shit!" Then the rope split apart and all three of us came crashing down on top of each other.  


Knife in my hand, I ended up underneath Hikaru as his head rested on my shoulder.   


After a moment of letting the moment sink in, Hikaru lifted his head up, "we really need to stop doing this."  


"At least you're the top this time," I laughed at my joke as Hikaru blushed till his facial expression changed from embarrassed to worried.  


"Kaoru," He cried, almost squashing me as he stumbled up. He grabbed my arm. "We have to find Kaoru!"  


He began to drag me out running before I had even gotten up myself. "I hope to god that this sudden realisation was unrelated to my joke or you two are taking twincest way too far!"   


He couldn't hear as he carried on running faster and faster, which was completely exhausting as we ran past the spot where we had been when the skull appeared. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I had seen Kyoya, but I think it was just my imagination tricking me. It was Halloween after all.

 

 

** Hoshi **

 

"Where is he going?" I asked Kaoru as we jogged along behind the class rep.

 

"No idea, but he can run fast. How are we supposed to keep up?"

 

I laughed and shoved him into the wall.

 

"Are you trying to tell me that you aren't just jogging?" I managed to choke out between sniggers.

 

He looked away, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. "I could run as fast as him if I wanted to." I noticed that he was pouting slightly.

 

He suddenly put on a burst of speed and began sprinting away to catch up with the class rep. I shook my head and caught up, jumping onto Kaoru's back so that he collapsed slightly under my weight.

 

"WEAKLING!" I shouted, still laughing.

 

Kaoru started laughing as well, and turned his head slightly, probably to shout back at me, when we were unceremoniously pushed into a classroom along with the class rep. the door slammed shut behind us, and we could hear what sounded like heavy objects falling. The class rep shrank back and curled himself into a ball. He began shaking and muttering to himself, rocking back and forwards slightly. I shuffled over and placed my arm around him, trying to make the cooing noises that people who are good at reassuring people make.

 

Kaoru was trying to open the door, but I could tell that it was no good. The door wasn't going to budge, which meant that we were stuck here for the foreseeable future. Great. Just freaking great. The class rep, who I barely even knew as I'd only ever really seen him when he was walking around the school, was still shaking and had started crying silently into the arm. If he tried to wipe his nose on my sleeve I was going to punch him. The only person who was allowed to be an emotional wreck around me was my Dad, and even then, I couldn't deal with it for long. Did make me a bad person? Probably. But seeing as I was stuck in a locked classroom with a class rep I hardly knew and one of the Hitachiin twins, whilst I was at a Halloween event that I didn't even need to be at, I decided that I didn't really care.

 

I sat with the class rep and we watched Kaoru try and open the door for a while. Both of us were silent as though we felt that this would help get it to open. As if the door would react to our voices. Eventually he gave up and joined us by the wall.

 

"So," the class rep had finally calmed down and was looking at me, "who exactly are you?"

 

"Umm... I'm Kamiya Hoshi from the 1-C class."

 

"From the 1-C class?! But isn't that the stupid class?"

Kaoru leaned over me glaring at the class rep, his face flushed bright red. I pushed his face away and forced a smile onto my own face.

 

"I guess you could say that. I'm only here to help my friends, so don't let my presence get to you. I'm sure you won't lose any of your brilliant intelligence by being near me."

 

The class rep coughed, before focusing his attention on Kaoru. "If you don't mind me asking, which twin are you?"

 

"I'm Kaoru, oh great mastermind."

 

The class rep coughed again and began mumbling something about how he wasn't a bad person and how some girl called Momoka Kurakano wouldn't approve of his behaviour.

 

"I nudged kaoru. "Who's Momoka Kurakano?" I whispered, placing my hand by my mouth like a spy in an old movie.

 

"The class rep for the girls in 1-A. the class rep here has a crush on her. They're friends though. Well as far as I can see they are. So I think that he doesn't want to make a move because he doesn't want to upset the pumpkin."

 

"What pumpkin?" I tipped my head to the side and blinked at him.

 

"The spell on the carriage. If a person keeps running the way they always have, then things are fine. I'm sure that keeping a family setting with fathers and daughters, is the boss' spell, to keep our current relationship from being ruined. Neither the boss, nor me and Hikaru, have ever had that many friends. So we want to enjoy out time as much as possible. But at some point, there's a good chance that the spell will break and everything will become a muddy pumpkin again." I thought I saw a tear roll down his cheek. But he quickly wiped it away with is sleeve.

 

"So what you're saying is that your life is like Cinderella?" I questioned.

 

"Yeah basically."

 

"But at the end of Cinderella she got the prince. So even if everything does turn into a muddy pumpkin, after a while everything will become great again, and the happiness will return." I smiled, and he gave me a small smile back.

 

"Wow. Kamiya, you're not that stupid for a 1-C student. I didn't really understand what he was talking about." The class rep had been listening into our conversation.

 

I watched as Kaoru's face became an interesting shade of purple, and that's when we heard it. Or more accurately, heard him. It sounded as though Hikaru was throwing open every door in the corridor in an attempt to find his brother. Eventually our door was thrown open and Hikaru burst in, embracing his Kaoru.

 

"hey," The class rep called, glancing out of the door. "Weren't Fujioka and Rikimaru with you?"

 

"Oh shit, they were." Hikaru ran to the door and peered out with the class rep. Panting could be heard from down the corridor and Hikaru quickly left the room.

 

We could hear him apologising to the other two. I poked Kaoru in the ribs and he shot me questioning look.

 

"It seems like your pumpkin is still a carriage."

 

He caught on and I noticed that his eyes appeared to glaze over. "yeah. He ran to me first."

 

We walked back to the rest of the class as a group. A girl with light brown hair was yelling at us, but I wasn't really paying attention to her. I could see Yuko yelling at Tamaki, and by the looks of it, she was about to throw a punch. Kaoru followed my gaze.

 

"Why do you put up with her? I mean, she turned up at your school, and joined in with a project that you didn't even have to join in with when you obviously didn't want her there. I don't mean to be rude, but she's one of the most overbearing, obnoxious people, I've ever met. I really can't understand why you let her push you around."

 

"Well if I told you that, I'd break the spell on my own pumpkin."

 

I winked and turned on my heel, walking out of the room where all my friends, my sister, and the girl who I wasn't sure about anymore, where. I only stopped once, when I heard them all scream.


	15. 14 - Meetings and Greetings

** Koray **

 

Hoshi had been acting strange all week, even before the Halloween event. She ate lunch alone, tried to leave class early though she did get her foot stuck in the bin again, and then tripped into someone's bag another time. She didn't even go to the host club with me to eat cake with Hunny like she always did. I was getting very concerned about her, but it was the weekend and there was nothing I could do.  
  
 It was the first time my parents were properly home after my brother's burial a month ago, they just used the home as a come and go. My mother came into my room, her cold blue eyes giving me the shivers as I had never seen her so...soulless? She dropped a bag onto my bed and told me to get changed and get ready for a mafia meeting. And not to disobey her again.  
  
I took the dress out its bag without even looking, what my mother wanted, my mother got from now on. She had always hated the way I dressed, wanted me to be more glamorous than rough, sexy not a mess, even though I'm only sixteen? I dived into the black dress to find it was perfectly adjusted, and I didn't question how she managed that. It clung to my curves and felt too skin tight to be in front of people which made me feel extremely vulnerable, but I grabbed my leather jacket. I wiped off my usual eyeliner as it was 'like a pandas', and I did one of those fancy eye shadow things you see on instagram because I am that classy (and my mother would yell at me if I didn't look 'right').  
  
 After that I was crammed into the mafia limo and driven the mafia hall on the outskirts of town, the centre of the mafia's community. We walked into the dark building, umbrellas sheltering us from the rain. In the building, we walked through the bullet proof glass corridor to get to the main room.   
  
There were no windows, just dark wooden panels with a dark wooden floor, covered by a white rug. I thought the rug would have blood stains or something by now from all the fights but it remains so clean. On the rug, was a large round table where all the mafia would meet around. The important members like my parents and the heads of the other families like my aunts and uncles and other kind of head relations, would all sit at designated seats at the table. All the other members would stand and crowd round the table. Me and my brother would stand behind our parents, full posture, till my brother came of age to be the heir and sat in between my parents.  
  
 My mother shoved me into the chair beside her when I was about to stand behind her, my dad on her other side. This was the first proper meeting since my brother's death, except his ceremony and burial, we hadn't seen anyone since.   
  
The room started to fill in, and I sat there confused, unable to shake hands or stand against the wall like I usually did. Once everyone was sitting, my father took off his sunglasses and greeted everyone with a solemn glance. He did seem to be affected by my brother's death, he actually looked shaken, and not as well groomed as my mother usually kept him, but my mother looked just as icy and glamorous. Her ice-blonde hair twirled up into a tight bun, she wore a tight white dress. You'd think we were twins, the way we had the same hair, body and facial structure, the way she made us dress in contrasting colours to 'compliment' each other.  
  
 She smiled a cold, white smile, "When our son was defeated, he did not complete what we set him out to do," she patted my father's shoulder, "We both had to carry out his task ourselves, he was not true to his role as heir."  
  
 "Mother!" I hissed next to her.  
  
 "That is why tonight, we have gathered everyone together after our discussion," My father told them all.

"Our daughter, Koray, will be the heir to the Rikimaru Dragon Mafia," my mother said, her smile was cruel, I had not been consulted.   
  
Everyone started mumbling, and arguing, growing louder and louder, pushing around, I heard, "but she's just a girl" and "not even proved herself". Obviously my brother being a male gave him a free pass in proving himself.   
  
My mother stabbed a knife into the table which made it shudder, causing everyone to stop, knowing exactly what this meant. "My daughter, will have the opportunity to prove herself, she has come of age and will be introduced into society now that she is sixteen. That means a marriage can be set and she will prove herself by the time she is eighteen."

Everyone started arguing and yelling loudly again. I turned to my mother, "Woah ho, no one mentioned a set up marriage!"  
  
"Koray, you really believe to be the heir alone and without a partner. Are you really strong enough for that? Be reasonable and be quiet."  
  
 A glass of red wine smashed against the wall, a red stain seeped into the white rug. We all stopped and quietly looked over to see my uncle stood at his seat. He looked very angry.  
  
 "How can any of you mumble about unfairness that a woman will be the heir? Arranged marriages? Proving oneself? This is the Rikimaru Dragon's Mafia and you're making your own daughter work harder for something that she was trained for?"  
  
"She was only trained for mafia duties," my mother replied stiffly to her brother.  
  
 "She trained harder than Akio, who did not want anything to do with being a leader! That was why he was killed! Because he was forced! If you failed to see the stronger sibling, how can you be trusted to make the right choice now?"  
  
 "Brother, now is not the time."  
  
 "Why not one of our children take the role? You are only at the top, dear sister, as you married after our parents died, before I was of age."  
  
 My father spoke up, "perhaps there is a compromise?" he glanced at me.  
  
 "In what way?" my mother asked before my father whispered in her ear.   
  
"If Koray could prove herself before marriage would be an option?" he said, and everyone looked disgusted, "If not we could have her marry."  
  
"Hey! I am not-"  
  
"And if she refuses!" my uncle retorted knowing my mind.  
  
"Then she will be stupid to have thrown away her future. But only when she has failed on both occasions, Katashi," she adressed my uncle, "Will your brute of a son be heir."  
  
"How dare you say-"  
  
"All those in favour?" my mother asked, despite it not being a democracy. Everyone nodded and it was decided. My uncle looked furious.

 

Now the meeting was suddenly over, me and my parents were first to leave. My uncle tried to talk to me but my mother pulled me away.   
  
 It was silent in the limo, my father looking out the window seeming distant and my mother glaring at me.

 

We pulled up into the courtyard but before I could open my door, my mother spoke up. "You best believe I will disown you if you bring shame on the family, Koray, you were most hopeful. Do not turn out like your brother."  
  
 "Dear-" my father warned but my mother raised an eyebrow, staring right at me, daring me to make one wrong move.  
  
 "If I follow every direction you give, mother, then I'll end up exactly like Akio; dead from lack of free will."  
  
"And if you do not obey, you will never leave these walls again - ever."  
  
That caught me off guard. "You wouldn't."  
  
"Try me," she scowled, "You do this and only when you fail twice will I leave you on your own in the world."  
  
"Then I will do it, mother," I sighed, knowing i could only ever get out of this world if i agreed. "But all I will do is fail you twice."  
  
 And with that, I stormed out of the limo as the door was opened by staff. I got to my brother room and slammed the door closed to make it known that I wanted to be alone. I sighed and thought to myself, what the hell did I actually want?   
  


** Hoshi **

 

I was sitting beside the fountain when they found me.

 

"Hoshi-chan there you are! We've been looking for you, right Takashi?"

 

"Mmm" Mori-senpai nodded his head in agreement.

 

"Why are you out here? You haven't been to the club recently. We've been worried." Hunny-senpai hugged Usa-chan and looked up at me with wide eyes.

 

"We have. Is everything alright Kamiya?" Mori-senpai sat down next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

 

I considered telling them everything. About the painting and Jessie and how I didn't know if I could trust one of my closest friends. It'd been such a lonely week and I really wanted to just talk to someone. Anyone.

 

"HOSHI! THERE YOU ARE, OH SISTER OF MINE!"

 

Well, anyone but her.

 

"Who's that?" Hunny-senpai had heard her and was gazing at my approaching sister in awe.

Mori-senpai merely glanced up, before focusing his attention back onto me.

 

"You should tell us what's wrong. It's not healthy for you to bottle up your feelings like this. Why don't you talk to your friends?" I was about to answer him. I really was. But unfortunately – or possibly, luckily – Yuko got to us first.

 

"why do you have so many attractive friends? When I went to this school there were just nerds. But look at these two gorgeous men!" She sat down on Mori-senpai's lap, but not before she'd booped Hunny-senpai's nose.

 

Mori-senpai awkwardly moved her off his lap and she ended up sitting between us, beaming like an idiot. Her brown hair was glossy, and gleamed in the bright sunlight. She had pale skin and looked almost like a porcelain doll. Like she would smash if she did anything but sit and look pretty. But I knew better. My sister was dangerous.

 

"Why are you here?" I asked, a slight edge to my voice.

 

"And who are you?" Hunny-senpai was shifting from foot to foot, his eyes focused on the ground.

 

"The name's Kamiya Yuko. It's a pleasure to meet you little pixie boy." She reached out and plucked Usa-chan from his hands, throwing it in the air a few times before hugging it to her chest. Hunny-senpai's eyes filled with tears and he immediately rushed forwards to try and retrieve the pink stuffed animal, but Yuko put her foot on his head and smiled. "And to answer your question little sis, I work here now!"

 

"WHAT?!" I yelled.

 

"I got a job as a teaching assistant to help boost my college application. Everyone can't be as clever as me!"

 

"says the girl who took 5 years to graduate high school." I muttered under my breath.

 

"That was because of special circumstances and you know it, sister sister." Yoko's voice sounded cheerful enough, but there was a steely undertone to it and her eyes challenged me to keep speaking. I held my tongue and stood up, intending to walk away. Hunny-senpai grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back.

Tears were still streaming down his face from the injustice of having Usa-chan stolen.

 

"Hoshi-chan *sniff* why are you leaving *sniff* us with your scary sister? *sniff*" he refused to let go of me so I gave in and turned around to continue talking to them.

 

"How dare you call me scary squirt!" Yuko's face had flushed red and she was twirling Usa-chan by its ears aggressively. "You should take a note out of hunky here's book and stay quiet." She batted her eyelashes at Mori-senpai and leant into his shoulder.

 

"Don't be mean to Mitskuni." Mori-senpai plucked Usa-chan out of her hand and gave it back to Hunny-senpai.

 

"Thanks Takashi!" Hunny-senpai's face immediately brightened and he jumped onto Mori-senpai's back when he stood up.

 

"Let's go." Mori-senpai grabbed my arm and pulled me along behind them, Yuko calling after us as we went.

 

We ended up at the smoothie bar and I bought them smoothies and cake as an apology for them having to put up with my sister. We ate and drank in silence. Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai occasionally spoke about happenings at the host club, but I hadn't been recently so I didn't know what they were talking about. I stared out onto the street and watched people walking past. In a few weeks, this smoothie bar would be mine and Koray's stall at the fair.

 

I planned to ask Anzu to make us a banner to hang over the marble counter. I'd already discussed the music that was going to be played with Koray and we'd checked that it was on the old jukebox standing in the corner. The ginger cat who usually sat in the window would be dressed up as a smoothie to attract customers, and we were workshopping a new type of smoothie to sell as a one off at the fair.

 

"Hey Hoshi-chan," Hunny-senpai nudged me and I snapped out of my thoughts, "Was that girl really your sister?"

 

"Yeah, she was." I sighed.

 

"I don't like her very much." He hugged Usa-chan close to him and sniffed.

 

"Mmm" Mori-senpai agreed.

 

I couldn't blame them for disliking her. But I felt bad for my sister. She hadn't always been like that. They'd changed her. Those tall intimidating men in suits. And I suspected that they had something to do with the disappearance of my painting as well. That they had something to do with Koray.


	16. 15 - Kidnapped by a Cowboy/Kidnapped the Cowboy

** Koray **

 

It was the end of another school day, the end of another day where Hoshi had basically ignored me except for work on the fair. This had been going on for months now and very little had happened. Christmas and winter had passed in the blink of an eye. I had been training to prove myself the whole time, I never had time to myself much anymore. It was just turning March and the cherry trees were starting their new growth.   
  
For some reason I sat under a cherry tree in the cold for a while once school was over. I didn't go to the host club. I just didn't feel like going lately, even if Hikaru and I were better friends than before, even if I now shared a joke or two about Yuko with Mori-senpai, or when Hunny-senpai started to give me some basic pointers of self defence with Mori-senpai. Tamaki still pissed me off, but he was just a gullible idiot so it doesn't really matter.   
  
You could say that I was started to feel the pressure of watching my dreams for the future start to fade away. I knew that I had to try and prove myself. I'd had a revelation where if I became heir and eventually controlled the mafia, then i could put it to good use. So i actually started tryring with proving myself.  
  
 I got up from under the tree and started to leave the school grounds. There, at the gates, leaning against a black car, was a man with blonde hair, half reading through a file in his hands. I started to walk past him before I heard his Western American accent call out, "Rikimaru, Koray?"  
  
I quickly snapped around and took one cautious but threatening step towards him, "who's asking?"

The man smiled at my defensiveness, "I'm detective Drakon. I need to ask you a few questions."

"If it's about my family, I know nothing," I said in a rehearsed tone before walking away.  
  
"It's about your friend Kamiya," he called out to me.  
  
 "She hasn't talked to me in weeks but I suppose I can help," I turned around to face him. But as soon as I did, the cowboy detective grabbed my shoulder, put a bag over my head and knocked me out.  
  
 I woke up in the backseat of his car, yeah I was unconscious but I'm smart enough to know which part of a car I am stuffed into, I'm prepared and trained for situations like these, remember?  
  
 I could literally shake the bag off my head, and the ties around my wrists were really easy to untie. Cowboy detective had heard me stirring and tutted when he saw the bag off my head, though he didn't know yet that my hands were untied. I was waiting till I knew where we were before I made any action.  
  
 "Good, you're awake," he beamed into the rear view mirror, "Now, Princess, you're going to tell me about what your family did to Hoshi's painting or you're not leaving this car till the cops bring your body out of the ocean."  
  
 "What kind of detective threatens to kill someone?" I asked calmly.  
  
 "This kind," he smirked.

 

"Well, you're not a very good one. Torture would be better than a death threat, I'd rather die than be driven around in this crap-mobile."  
  
 "Tell me about the painting," the cowboy demanded and started to speed ahead.  
  
 I laughed dismissively, "What fucking painting?"  
  
 "An unknown source gave me a tip and evidence that your family took this painting from the Kamiya residence."  
  
 "THAT UNKNOWN SOURCE COULD HAVE BEEN A FALSE ACCUSATION, YOU STUPID COWBOY BEBOP! IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE KETSUEKI SAMEJIMA MAFIA! OH MY GOD," I cursed aloud.  
  
 "Well, how would I know you're doing this to throw me off your tracks?"  
  
 "Because if you were a good detective, you would have built up your own evidence instead of fucking kidnapping your suspect with no evidence!"  
  
By this point I had had enough, adrenaline was pumping through me, it was the most alive I had felt in ages, since my brother's death, apart from my fights with Hikaru. I hit the cowboy over the head so hard he was already unconscious. I was expecting the car to still speed along this open track road but it slowly halted, which, to be honest, was kind of disappointing for the adrenaline rush I was going through.  
  
 I pulled the hand brake and got out of the car before I dragged the cowboy detective out of the front seat. He almost returned to consciousness before I whacked him over the head again. I then put the bag over his head so it wouldn't come off like mine had, but enough for him to breathe, and I tied his hands with a strong knot so he couldn't get out of it.  
  
 I couldn't lift him, because even though I'm good at shifting my own weight with fighting and moving, I was terrible at shifting other people's weight. I eventually, somehow, got him into the back seat before tying his legs together. I got into the driver seat where I looked around for my phone, which I found in the glove compartment. I mean, this cowboy detective was so original.   
  
 I started the car and kept driving till I got some signal, enough to get 3g. I had thought about calling Hoshi about this but I thought of a better idea. With the crappy 3g internet, I used gps to figure out where the hell I was and a route to get to the Kamiya residence, and there I was, driving a car that wasn't my own down a dusty side road. Once on the main road, I think I spent half my time screaming over traffic and hitting the cowboy over the head whenever he woke up.

 

Somehow I made it in one piece to the gates of the Kamiya estate. They had a big, tall fancy gate that rich people usually have, with a security guard who takes your name. I mean my house has a very big wall and a gate that you couldn't see through with multiple cameras surrounding it and one of those voice radios to speak to the large amount of security on the other side. It made me realise how different Hoshi and I actually lived, well, I already knew, but having it pointed out like this really made me jealous of how much she didn't have to deal with.  
  
 I managed to get past security after they phoned up Hoshi and she let me in. I was extremely concerned about the lack of car security checking. I could have anything in this car, I mean, I had a tied up cowboy with a bag over his head and they didn't notice a thing. Maybe that's why the painting was so easily stolen. I pulled in front of the house, their butler opened the door and out came a man, offering to park my car but I told him this was a quick visit. Then I pulled the cowboy out of the car, he was awake at this point, and I dragged him as he attempted to hop, crying for help with muffled yelps. The butler and the car guy both looked extremely concerned, but then Hoshi came to the door and the look on her face was priceless.

 

** Hoshi **

"What the actual fuck are you doing here?" I demanded angrily. How dare she just turn up at my house. She's already stolen my painting. What else could she steal?

 

"What the actual fuck is your security?" She demanded back, waving her hands in the general direction of her car which was parked on the turning circle at the bottom of the steps.

 

"Oh, I'm so sorry my security isn't up to your standards. Apparently my detective friend here wasn't either, huh?" I pointed a Jessie who had a bag over his head and making weird muffled sounds from inside it.

 

She looked at the ground a bit sheepishly, wringing her hands together. "I can explain."

 

"Let him go first." I crossed my arms and blocked the way into my house.

 

"But..."

 

"Now!"

 

Koray pulled the bag off his head. He spluttered and started to speak, but she glared at him and he thought better of it. I watched untie the bindings from his arms and legs before I stood aside and they both walked into my house, Koray in the lead dragging Jessie along behind her.

I led them through the entrance hall towards the drawing room.

 

"Who's this Hoshi?" My Dad was making his way to his office and had noticed us wandering around the hall.

 

"Just some friends." I forced a smile onto my face and directed the other two towards the door on my right. Jessie was looking around the entrance hall in awe, taking in the angel statues, winding staircase and crystal chandelier. Koray gave him a prod in the back and he grudgingly trotted off into the room I'd indicated.

 

"Ok, but remember we have a family meeting this evening to discuss... things." He cast a look in the direction of the door they'd just walked through and I closed it quickly. "This issue with your sister needs to be discussed."

 

I nodded and waved to him before hurrying to open the door, and finding Koray and Jessie crouching behind it, obviously trying to hear what the "thing" was. I kicked my way past them and slumped onto the sofa, motioning them to do the same.

 

"So why exactly did you kidnap Mr Drakon here?" I asked Koray after they'd both sat down.

 

"Because he kidnapped me first!"

 

"Huh?"

 

"This asshole kidnapped me outside the school gates and threw me in his car. So I wasn't so much kidnapping as kidnapping in self-defence." She waved her arms around in front of her as she explained.

 

"And why exactly did you kidnap my friend?" I directed this question towards Jessie. I didn't tell him that I hadn't actually talked to Koray for about 2 months. He didn't need to know that.

 

"I just wanted some solid evidence Miss kamiya. I'm incredibly sorry about the inconvenience this has caused for you and your family." He hung his head in shame and avoided making eye contact with me.

"What do you mean solid evidence?" I raised an eyebrow at him, my foot tapping on the floor absently.

 

"Well... you see... the thing is... I didn't find those files, your little friend Anzu did." He looked up and gave me an apologetic smile.

 

"ANZU DID WHAT?" Koray exploded, her face becoming contorted in rage. She stood up and paced the room for a few minutes before sitting down and sighing a couple of times. Eventually she seemed to have regained her composure and looked to me to continue the conversation.

 

"What do you mean Anzu gave them to you?" I asked calmly, but I was starting to get a bit worried. I knew that Anzu didn't like Koray all that much, but she wouldn't try to get her arrested would she? There was only one way to find out.

 

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialled her number. She picked up on the second ring.

 

"Hey Hoshi, what's up?"

 

"What did you give Mr Drakon? About Koray?"

 

I heard her sniff. "I'm so sorry. I heard about you wanting a detective and I recommended Jessie and I just thought that I could help you know? But I didn't know where to look and I remembered that Rikimaru was part of the Rikimaru dragon league mafia and I just thought that if you needed a detective and you were newly friends with her it was suspicious right? So I gave those documents to Jessie. I'm so sorry, I just wanted to help." She was in tears now; bawling her eyes out over the phone.

 

I hung up and looked over at the two people sitting in front of me.

 

"You're fired. Get out of my house. Now." I spoke calmly but Jessie still looked scared. Casting one last terrified look at Koray, he got up and left the room. We heard him slamming the front door behind him.

 

"Sorry." I awkwardly said to Koray.

 

"For what?"

 

"You know, suspecting you of being a criminal and stuff."

 

"Oh." She shrugged, "No worries, happens all the time."

 

And that was the end of that.


	17. 16 - Family, Friends...And the Mafia

** Koray **

 

I was forced to leave without even being able to tell anyone where I was going. I was taken from my bed and then stuffed into the back of a car with tinted windows, all at 3 am. Now I know that this sounds like a kidnapping...again. Believe me, it was way worse. This is what my family like to call a "vacation".   
  
I'm joking. Why would we, as a family spend time together? Usually this time during the year, my family drag me to a random city in Japan where they hold a truce dinner with ally mafias and enemy mafias to discuss...whatever the hell mafias discuss together. In these "vacations" I can't go to the dinner. It was always my brother and my parents that attended and before my brother became of age, just my parents  which left me and my brother to do whatever the hell we wanted...within reason. We always found an arcade, or ice rink, or bowling alley, or all three in one to entertain ourselves. One time we spent time in a 24 hour gas station shop that had an arcade game and a slushy machine. With the body guard making sure we didn't trash the place, and the old man attendant let us stay there way past the time we were supposed to. That happened that was the year before he came of age, before he mess began. That was my all-time favourite memory of us.   


The vacation would last two weeks, the dinner being at the end of it. The two weeks was spent in meetings with allies as well as those weird mafia bonding things with my cousins and the rest of my mafia. This was my first year attending all the ally meetings seeing as I was the new heir and all.

 

I hated all of it. The meetings were boring, raging at the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia among other stupid things like how I was going to prove myself and bullshit like that. I met a few heirs of the ally mafias including Kasanoda, Ritsu, that tall, red-head, angry looking guy who goes to Ouran too. He only turned up a few days before the dinner and he asked me if I knew Haruhi when finding out that I went to Ouran too. After a weird conversation, he told me all about what had happened between him and the host club. My parents, not knowing what we were talking about, took a delight in me communicating so well with another heir and my mother didn't scowl at me much on the night of the dinner.  
  
She did force me into a silky, body hugging, red dress and persuaded me to wear the fancy heals as opposed to my boot heels. She got my hair done into fancy curls and a half braid instead of my white, straight, messed up hair look. She made me wear less eyeliner and more contour and lipstick. I felt like a prostitute to be honest, but in reality, we were selling me to the other mafias, though supposed to be as heir.   
  
I walked into the  fancy restaurant which was booked out completely for the meeting. I shook hands with the heirs and all the mafia leaders, including the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia leader, who was a dark haired man with a stubbly darkbeard and dangerous pale blue eyes. We were then seated round the table, and I somehow ended up next to my mother with Kasanoda on my other side. It was a very big round table. I was fascinated how it held this many people so neatly with enough elbowroom and everything. This must have been one big room for one big, round table. The room was extremely fancy as well, with dark red walls and black wooden panels, making the whole place look sleek and suave with its fancy black, electric chandelier above us.

 

I felt extremely distracted during the whole dinner, and there was no reason why. You'd think being busy with mafia related things for 2 weeks would relax me slightly. It just hit me that my brother would not return, we'd never go to an arcade again, I'd never ask for his academic advice or argue about who didn't want to be a part of this mafia more. My brother died trying to get my parents acceptance, I'll die because I failed them and I'd be cast out.  
  
My mother's voice snapped me from my thoughts, "Koray, tell Mr Massucci about that detective."  


I wished I hadn't mentioned the whole being kidnapped by a detective thing, though I thought mentioning him would make my parents get him relieved of his duties or something, but it just made my mother laugh.  
  
 "It was nothing really," I mumbled, earning me a glare from my mother. I cleared my throat, "He kidnapped me thinking I had stolen a valuable painting from my friend because he got the evidence from someone at school."

 

"Now, tell everyone how you handled the detective," my mother asked me sternly, with her fake smile.  


I sighed and fake smiled too, "well, I just knocked the guy out while he was still driving."

The head of the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia, Mr Massucci, laughed, "did you kill him then?"  
  
I smiled and shook my head, "I wanted to know what the hell was going on," my mother looked at me sternly for cursing but I made eye contact with Mr Massucci instead, "so I tied him up, put the bag over his head and knocked him out whilst I drove him to my friend's house and demanded information from them both."  
  
"Did the guy get what was coming for him?" Mr Massucci asked and everyone at the table remained silent, their attention on me.   
  
"Nah," I rolled my eyes, "Just fired by my friend."  
  
"You didn't go after him?" One member asked.  
  
"Never killed him?" Another asked.  


"Surely you had your gun?"

 

I shook my head, "I don't have a gun, I'm not fully trusted yet." I turned to my mother. Everyone at the table turned to my mother and she looked furious with me, as if I sounded ungrateful, but I didn't care anymore. Kasanoda looked at me warningly.  
  
"Well, Anya," Mr Massucci raised an eyebrow at my mother, "Get the girl a gun so she can do justice, or it'll never be a fair fight...on your part."  
  
"We were really just trying to find if Koray could truly be trusted with a stronger weapon, her training didn't give us much confidence," my father told Mr Massucci.  


My mother looked at my father sternly and Mr Massucci smiled at how unorganised we seemed to be.  
  
"I gave my son his first gun when he was twelve," Mr Massucci started. Mr Massucci's son, a muscle man, tanned and dark haired, smirked at me, with an evil glint in his eyes. "Didn't let him keep it on his person till 16 though, all those hormones and emotions can't be trusted. Though I suppose its different for women."  
  
"You're right, we keep our tempers under more control and are less trigger happy, more...logical," i take a drink from my glass as the table went silent.  
  
"You think you'd be a match against my son?" Mr Massucci asked me calmly.  


"I honestly have no idea," I sighed and looked round at everyone's faces as we were trying to keep the peace. "And i don't plan on it. I'm not trying to kill anyone."

 

My mother rolled her eyes and I knew I had failed her, as that reply sounded as though I was weak and unable to carry out any duties, especially as heir.  
  
With that the meeting and meal slowly stopped and everyone started to leave. I shook hands and said goodbye to everyone, and Kasanoda hugged me, knowing I was going to get hell for what I had said.   
  
I walked out the building to where our car waited. My father got in, then my mother slinked past and shoved something in my hands before slamming the car door in my face. The window slowly opened to reveal her cat-like face of fury.  
  
"Make your own way to the hotel, Koray, if you're so tough," she lifted her eyebrow and lifted the window.

 

There i stood staring into the reflection of my oddly coloured blue and green eyes. Then the car drove off quite quickly. I rolled my eyes as the car lights faded into the traffic. I tucked it into my dress' belt at the back before covering it with my jacket. I kicked the pavement and cursed aloud.   
  
Then a familiar situation occurred. A voice called out, "Rikimaru, Koray?"  
  
"Who's asking?" I replied angrily. But I was hit over the head and knocked out...again. I felt myself being dragged along a pavement.   
  
My knees stung with the pain of the friction. I winced and I was awake. I looked around, it was dark, but there was running water nearby, like a river, I could hear it. There were streetlights in the distance which meant we were near a town, probably the same town where the dinner was. I heard two voices, only one person was dragging me, still thinking I was unconscious. I swung back, kicked their leg and threw them over my back. I didn't expect to hear a splash but the river must've been closer than a thought.   
  
I took a few steps away and hear a "Hey!"  
  
"Who the hell are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" I yelled at them.  
  
A torch light came on shining at me.  
  
I grabbed my gun from my back and pointed it at the lights direction, shaking slightly from its power. "Who the hell sent you?"  
  
"I can't wait to kill the heir of the Rikimaru Dragon's League Mafia!" the voice laughed.  
  
"There's more than one heir right now, dumbass!"  
  
"Then I'll kill them all!" he laughed again and the light shone on his face. It was the heir to the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia, I forgot his name.  
  
"You really going to kill me just because our families hate each other?" I screamed at him, his face gleamed with cruelty.  
  
"That's the plan," he chuckled, pointing his own gun at me  
  
"You don't think this is at all stupid? They'll all know it was you! They'll come after you for obstructing the peace."  


He raised his gun and I heard the click. I cursed loud. "I don't even know what that means. But this will bring my family justice!"  
  
"Or another funeral!" I yelled and tried to knock him over. I yanked his gun out of his hands, him being surprisingly weak for such a strong looking guy, though I could smell the whiskey on his breath. We fought over my gun and then I fired.   
  
He was struck.I fired twice from shock. From the torchlight on the ground, I could see him drop backwards into the river. I picked up the torch and shone it over the water. Sure enough, a bleeding body was slowly floating downstream.

 

I left his gun on the ground, untouched, where he had dropped it and I began running and running and running.  
  
I don't remember how I got back to the hotel. I don't remember anything. When I walked into the waiting room of our hotel suite, my father sat in a chair and got up suddenly when he spotted me.  
  
"Koray, what the-"  
  
"I killed him, father."  
  
"Killed who, Koray? Anya!"  
  
I knew I was covered in blood, I knew I looked a mess but I just sat on the ground and threw my gun to the other side of the room. My mother walked in.  
  
"Koray, what is this mess?"  
  
"I killed the heir to the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia, mother."  
  
"Well its about damn time you did something good for us," she smirked at me, completely oblivious to the fact I was shaking, the fact I was in tears, the fact that I didn't look at her,   
  
"Where's the body? I'll get this cleaned up."  
  
Then she left. The body was found and dealt with. No one knew who I killed. No one knew that I had killed. I would have to return to Ouran, having killed someone, and have to act completely normal to everyone. This was my life now.


	18. 17 - Love and Friendship...Or Study Buddies?

** Hoshi **

 

With Koray gone, Hikaru had been following me around like a lost puppy. I wasn't entirely sure why as it wasn't like Kaoru had disappeared off the face of the Earth as well. But seen as Anzu had been unbearable since the detective incident - apologising whenever she saw me - I'd been spending most of my time with the twins and Haruhi. I didn't know if it was just me who had noticed, but it seemed to me that the twins weren't as close as they used to be. Kaoru seemed to be keeping Hikaru at a bit of a distance. Which meant that Hikaru was clinging to me and Haruhi for all he was worth.

 

"Thanks for your help." I was walking to the smoothie bar with Kaoru. Both of us were carrying large boxes of decorations.

 

"No problem, I like to help." He beamed at me.

 

"Cool. It's a shame Hikaru and Haruhi were busy though. Then we wouldn't have to carry so much."

 

"Yeah, it's a real shame." Kaoru muttered to himself, his cheeks flushing scarlet.

 

I frowned at him, "Hey, you did ask them, right?"

 

"Um..."

 

"DUDE! This wouldn't be taking so long if they were here!"

 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to be stuck with Hikaru pining after Koray and Haruhi not fully understanding what we're talking about." He looked at his feet and shuffled the box around in his hands.

 

"Don't be mean. Haruhi's getting way better. Yesterday she told Hikaru to stop being a perv before Tamaki did."

 

"That's true. We should get her a present to celebrate." He laughed, regaining some of his earlier cheerfulness.

 

"Hey, my dad's grown a whole load of sweet potatoes. Maybe I could give her some." This was true and I did need a way to get rid of those damn sweet potatoes. My dad had been talking about them for weeks.

 

Kaoru chuckled. "You know, I once knew someone who became obsessed with sweet potatoes."

 

I laughed as well. "That's not going to happen to Haruhi. I can guarantee it. She's too down to Earth.

 

"yeah, that's true." He wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye and nudged me with his shoulder. I pushed him back with the box and we jogged the rest of the way to the smoothie bar, laughing like maniacs.

 

The bar was busy as usual, although curiously it was mainly filled with couples. In fact, there were couples everywhere. We awkwardly wound our way around the tables until we finally managed to get to the counter and could dump the boxes on them. Looking around I could see that all the girls in the shop were wearing fancy clothes with their hair all shiny in the electric lighting. I looked at my own outfit and took in the grubby t-shirt and frayed shorts. Not to mention my hair which was tied in a loose ponytail. I'd been training before we'd left the school as Kaoru had host club duties. I hadn't been able to stand being around the club without Koray as moral support so I'd been getting a lot of training in while waiting for the others.

 

"hello dears." The smoothie lady had appeared behind the counter and was smiling sweetly. Her grey hair was piled on top of her head in an elegant bun.

 

"Hi. We brought the decorations for the fair." I motioned towards the boxes and then realised that I looked like a bit of an idiot as it was obvious that the boxes were full of the decorations. There was a banner hanging out of one of them.

 

"Well I'll just put them behind the counter then dearie. Can I get you anything now that you're here? We have a special offer for couples on today." She glanced swiftly at Kaoru and then focused her attention back onto me.

 

I felt my face flush and coughed a bit in hopes of covering it up. "We're not a coup-"

 

"Why how silly you're being sweetie! Of course, we're a couple!" Kaoru wrapped his arm around my shoulder and picked up a menu with his other hand. "Let's see. I'll have a spiced pumpkin smoothie and chocolate cake. Hoshi?"

 

"Err, chocolate strawberry smoothie and carrot cake please." My face was still a bit red so I kept my head down and avoided eye contact.

 

"Of course, dearies. Just find a table and I'll be over in a moment with your order."

 

We walked towards a table in the corner and sat down. I noticed a lot of girls - who I recognised from the host club - giving me dirty looks. Kaoru noticed too and glared at them. Most of them looked away pretty sharpish.

 

"What are you doing." I hissed at him across the table.

 

"They were giving you nasty looks." He looked a bit hurt.

 

"Not that. Why did you pretend we were a couple? We could easily afford the smoothies, we didn't need a discount for them."

 

"It was fun though." He giggled and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

 

I giggled too, despite myself. We were soon both giggling uncontrollably gaining irritated glances from those around us. We each grabbed a schoolbook from our schoolbags that we'd hastily shoved under the table and pretended to be engrossed in them, our shoulders shaking as we suppressed our laughter.

The drinks and cake arrived quickly and we both ate and drank them in silence. The host club girls were still shooting us occasional angry glances, but we were both trying hard to ignore them. Their dates were also looking a bit irritated which was slightly offensive as it wasn't our fault that they had shitty dates.

 

"Wanna really annoy them?" Kaoru had leant over the table and was whispering to me.

 

"How?" I whispered back excitedly.

 

"Give me your hand." Held his hand out expectantly.

 

"Why?" I eyed his hand suspiciously.

 

He rolled his eyes. "Just give me your hand."

I sighed and took his hand. He stood up and we walked out of the bar, earning even angrier looks from the girls. One of them stuck a leg out to trip me up and I "accidently" kicked her in the shin when I stepped out of the way. We reached the door and both turned around, waved and bowed to the room. I have no idea why. By the look on Kaoru's face he had no idea either. When we were safely out of the door and past the window, I let go of his hand. He looked at his hand when I did this and I couldn't help but feel a little hurt. I was relatively sure that my hand wasn't that sweaty.

 

We rounded the corner when I saw a familiar face. I glanced a Kaoru to check and see if he'd seen her too and he nodded to say yes. She walked closer towards us slowly, with aimless steps and her eyes looking to the ground.

 

"KORAY?!" we both chorused.

 

But she walked straight past and gave no sign that she had acknowledged our existance. I swivelled on my heel to watch her back as it walked away from us. What had just happened? Koray would never just ignore us like that. Not after she'd been gone for so long. I didn't realise I'd been shaking until Kaoru grabbed my arm. We slowly walked away from the scene of the crime. And it was a crime, ignoring your friends like that. I didn't say anything as we walked, but my feet dragged along the pavement the entire way to school.

 

 

** Koray **

 

"You ignored me yesterday," Hoshi mumbled once she had taken her seat beside me before the register was taken.

 

I lifted my head and acknowledged her, "oh? Sorry." I then lay my head on the table to tried to get some sleep but that same image of the son I killed flashed across my mind like it did every time I closed my eyes.

 

"Koray," Hoshi looked at me sternly, "are you feeling okay? You seem kinda distant?"

 

"I'm fine," I lied, "just exhausted from the  _Mafia_  thing."

 

Hoshi looked at me for a moment till the teacher walked in and the lesson grabbed her attention.

 

Throughout the day Hoshi attempted to make me participate like normal, she even bought me a milkshake at lunch. Hikaru was also being quite clingy, trying to make jokes, trying to make me have a joke, partake in an argument or something. In truth, I was just trying to keep to myself so I wouldn't snap. She dragged me to the host club in a last attempt, where we were covered in rose petals upon arrival like usual.

  
The twins wandered over to us despite their customers protest, though they still managed to pull a brotherly love act in front of us. Till they asked Hoshi about her latest math test score.

  
I took the time to look around the host club, trying to find peace of mind. Nothing was different, no one was different, apart from me.

 

I watched as Hoshi's sister mocked Hunny, stealing Usa-chan, whilst flirting with Mori who stood there red in the face at her attempts. I found it strange how a classroom assistant was visiting the host club but that was Kamiya Yuko for you.

 

I walked over to Kasanoda, realising that he was friends with Haruhi and would come here often. Did he know? Did he know I killed? He sat with Haruhi in deep conversation about her sudden and random fascination in gardening. When he saw me, he got up and excused himself, walking me over to a nearby window. He looked at me with sympathy which turned my blood cold.

 

"I heard about what happened, we had to help with the cover up," he shrugged awkwardly, "how you holding up?"  


"I just...it feels like nothing's happened." I looked up at him with despair, "nothing feels different but it should!"

 

He patted my shoulder, "Nothing has changed really. As far as anyone's aware nothing's happened."

 

"I killed someone, Ritsu!" I hissed.

 

"Keep your voice down," he hushed.  
  
"I killed the heir to the Ketsueki Samejima! Nothing is fine!" I whispered.  
  
Kasanoda put his arm around my shoulder hesitantly, "This is meant to stay covered up." He removed his arm uncomfortably and patted my shoulder again, "just let me know if anything's changed or if anything seems suspicious. I'll handle it."

 

"Hey, I can handle things myself!"

 

"You've been kidnapped... _twice..."_ Kasanoda replied bluntly. He patted my shoulder for the last time and backed away as I glared at him for doing so. "See you later, Koray."

 

I rolled my eyes and turned around in time to witness Hoshi and Kaoru push Hikaru towards me. He approached hesitantly and raked a hand through his hair, giving me a forced smirk behind glaring brows at Kasanoda.

 

"Hey, Koray," he greeted with intentions.

 

"What's up?" I mumbled.

 

"You've been away for a while-" he started.  


"Yeah?"  


"And you missed your math test-"  


"Yeah?"  


"Which you need to retake-"  


"And?"  


"You'll need to study for it-" He gave me an awkward smile.

 

"Is this going anywhere? Or are you just reminding me of hell?"

 

That shook his smile slightly, "Well, I just thought you'd need a tutor again."

 

"Yeah, we;; that  _would_  be kinda helpful," I sighed without a sarcastic comment.

 

"You want to study at the smoothie bar again?" he asked somewhat enthusiastically.

 

"I don't really feel like studying in public right now."

 

"Our house then?" he asked, in way where he was already thinking the answer would be no.

I nodded and gave him a weak smile, giving him a surprising answer, "Sure."

  
We waited until the Club had ended for the day till we walked out of school and slumped into the Twins' limo. Kaoru made Hikaru sit next to me but it soon turned awkward with silence so Kaoru brought up small conversation which Hikaru ignored with some sort of chip on his shoulder.

 

When we got to their house, it was the same as Hoshi's. A stylish mansion with a fashionable colour scheme, a gate with a speaker to get in, a doorman and a butler, not really any big security. These rich kids shoving in my face how differently I had to live in high security walls for the rest of my life, again and again.

We walked into the house and gave our coats to the butler before I heard a thrilling voice shriek, "Boys! I just heard from the maid that you had brought a girl home?"

 

The woman, with short fiery hair glided down the stairs extremely fast. I guessed that she was their mother. She almost pushed over the butler trying to reach me. "I am Hitachiin Yuzuha, their mother," she held out a hand for me to take.

 

I changed my confused face to one of my fake smiles I usually used when meeting people my parents introduce me to.

 

"That's right, the fashion designer?" she smiled and nodded as I held out my hand and introduced myself, "Rikimaru Koray."

 

She shook my hand forcefully with a beaming smile, "oh, from the mafia? How thrilling! Boys, I never knew that you knew the daughter of the Dragon's League?"

 

They both shrugged their shoulders in synch.

 

"Boys, why have you brought a girl home?" she then scowled at them, "just what are you bringing this poor girl into?"

 

They hold their hands up in defence but I forced a laugh, "Hikaru's just helping me study for a maths test, Mrs Hitachiin."

 

"Oh, call me Yuzuha," she smiled at Kaoru, "He gets his logic from his father," she then grabs Hikaru,

 

"Kaoru's more like me, a philosophic soul!"

 

Hikaru and Kaoru both looked disappointed that their own mother had gotten their names wrong but their reaction showed that this happened often.   


"Don't let me hold you two back now, but Koray dear, please stay for dinner!" Yuzuha cried at me.

 

I nodded and agreed, fearing what would happened if I said no. Yuzuha then grabbed Kaoru, the right twin this time. "Now Kaoru, come help me with some fashion choices while Hikaru is busy, I hardly ever see you!"

 

Hikaru and I stood in silence for a moment as Kaoru was dragged away by their enthusiastic mother. After making awkward eye contact, Hikaru shook it off and led me down the hall way to the library, telling me how their dad may be hidden away in there but he wasn't.

 

Hikaru sat down on a plush chair at a mahogany table by the fireplace and I awkwardly joined him. We quietly got to work as a maid came in and lit the fire.

  
Hikaru talked me through everything, and I could see that he was annoyed with how difficult I was being, he'd been like this all day after I had pushed him away.

 

He suddenly stopped with the work and set down his pencil. He looked at the table but addressed me,

"Koray? What's wrong with you?"

 

"Excuse me?" I answered in surprise at his question.

 

"You're acting as if you're not okay?" He pointed out. I knew he had been prompted by Kaoru as he wasn't best with readings emotions.

 

"I'm fine," I mumbled.

 

"So why did you leave?" He pressed.

 

"Huh?"

 

"You left for two weeks, why?" His eyes turned dark, as his voice became slightly harsher.

 

"I was away...you know...mafia business, though, I don't see why you have to know."

 

"You didn't tell us you were leaving," he turned away from me.

 

"I wasn't aware I had to?" I sighed and got up. "I wasn't aware I had to tell you everything."

 

"I thought we were friends. I thought friends were supposed to talk about things and let each other know how they feel?" He grumbled and got up himself. I knew he was still confused at how friendship worked, his world was still so small.

 

"Friends have to understand the boundaries of personal space," I replied aggressively.

 

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem because we're not really friends," he scowled at me, "you're just another toy. You're not really anything to me."

 

"Fucking hell, Hikaru what are you on?" I threw a math book at him in my rage, "you are being so petty!"

 

"Well, you're being a confusing bitch!" He retorted.

 

"Again?" I sighed and knew I hd been bitchy. I'd been horrible, which soon made me remember just how horrible I had been. I grasped the table breathing heavily as images of the Ketsueki Samejima heir I had killed appeared again and again. A tear slid down my face and I groaned at the state I was in. In the corner of my eye, I saw Hikaru turn around and look at me with the most confused expression.

 

"Why are you-" he started harshly.

"I KILLED SOMEONE LAST WEEK!" I cried out to him and wiped away a tear, and looked him in the eye. "ARE YOU HAPPY NOW THAT I TELL YOU EVERYTHING?!"

 

"You've killed before though, right?" he replied dismissively.

 

"What?"

  
"We assumed you've killed people brfore," he said coldly, "you are part of a  _Mafia_."

 

"No, I fucking haven't  _killed_  anyone...well not till recently. I'm only sixteen! God, Hikaru, I think you're missing the point!" He looked at me with an expression that I couldn't read. "You tell me about friendship,

Hikaru, how in the world would  _want_  to be friends with a killer? I can't even look at myself, how can you even look at me?"

 

"To be fair, I assumed you killed people when I first met you anyway," he admitted.

I snapped my eyes towards him and a tear slid down my face, "is that how everyone sees me? A killer?"

 

"They see you as the Mafia?" He stated bluntly without looking at me.

 

"Is that how you see me? Just the Mafia?"

 

"No!"

 

"Then how do you see me?"

 

"I don't know!" He looked down at me as if he wanted to do something but couldn't bring himself to.

 

I got up and grabbed my things and stuffed them in my bag. Hikaru watched me silently with a hurt expression.

 

"I need to go..." I mumbled.

 

He tried to hold me back, "Koray-"

 

"Just don't repeat what I've told you, or else I'd have to kill you...and surprisingly, I don't actually want to,"

I chuckled sarcastically and placed a hand on his arm, giving him a weak smile as if to apologise in hope that we could remain friends. "Tell your mother that I'm sorry I had to miss dinner."

 

And with that, I left Hikaru in the library and walked out of their house. Once again I started crying heavily from overall shock as everything just hit me at once.


	19. 18 - Many Fair Mistakes

** Hoshi **

 

The day of the Ouran fair arrived bright and sunny. I wasn't sure whether I was happy about this or not as hot weather was never fun when you were stuck inside. The smoothie bar was sweltering hot. So hot that even the air conditioning wasn't doing anything to cool the air. My waitress outfit - black skinny jeans, a long-sleeved black shirt and an apron - was sticking to my skin, making the whole experience even more uncomfortable. Koray was standing next to me looking just as uncomfortable and wearing basically the same outfit as me, except she'd switched out the shirt for a black and white tie-dyed t-shirt. We'd both tied our hair up around lunchtime in an attempt to control the heat. It hadn't helped.

 

Despite the heat though, the smoothie bar looked great. Handmade banners that we'd both made during a maths class. I'm relatively sure we were supposed to be doing maths. Oh well. I was sure it'd be fine. The corner of the smoothie bar was full of balloons. We'd had to drag the host club into the bar super early that morning, in order to get enough balloons ready. What we hadn't counted on was how excited Tamaki would get with them and he ended up bursting at least half of them in his excitement.

 

The bar was full of students and parents meaning that we were completely run off our feet. I grabbed the ingredients to make an apple blast smoothie and stuffed them into the blender beside me. While they were blending I ran into the back and rummaged around in the boxes until I found the cheesecake. It didn't look good. In fact it had melted. Brilliant. Deciding that I might as well serve it anyway, I grabbed the box and carry it out to the shopfront.

 

"You can't be planning to serve that to the customers, right?" Koray had noticed the cheesecake and was now looking at me with her eyebrows raised.

 

"Why not?" The cheesecake didn't look so bad. Not really.

 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'why not?'. LOOK AT IT."

 

Ok. So maybe it looked a little under the weather. But was it really that bad. I put a slice on a plate and lifted it up to expect it. Some of the topping ran off.

 

"See." Koray gestured towards the now bare biscuit base. "That is not supposed to happen!"

 

I scooped the topping off the worksurface, and dumped it bad onto the base before pouring the contents of the blender into a glass and rushing off to a table.

 

"I'm sorry it's taken so long. Here's your order."

 

"And what exactly is  _that?"_  The girl at the table gestured toward the cheesecake.

 

"Um... cheesecake?" I offered, wondering if the girl was a bit stupid.

 

" _That_ , is not cheesecake.  _That_ , is an abomination to the name of cake." She clicked her fingers at me and turned away, looking a bit like a stroppy toddler who's just been told that she can't have a second pony  _and_  a sports car.

 

"Leave her alone, Mayoko" The boy sitting opposite her grinned at me.

 

"Why are you taking the side of this peasant girl,  _Tsuneo_." Mayoko narrowed her eyed at him, curling a piece of glossy hair between her fingers.

_Peasant girl!_  How dare she! I drew myself up and looked her dead in the eye.

 

"Excuse me. Who do you think you're calling a peasant girl? My name is Kamiya Hoshi, second daughter of the great Kamiya Fudo. If anyone's a peasant, I'd say it's probably you."

 

Her face turned bright red and Tsuneo had to hide a snigger behind his hand. I grabbed the melting cheesecake off the table and walked back to the counter with my head held in the air.

 

"well don't you look regal."

 

"What are you doing here?"

 

Kaoru was standing beside the counter with an arm lazily resting along the surface. Koray was attempting to move his arm out of the way.

 

"I got a break so I decided to see my favourite girls!"

 

"Aren't you on a stall with Haruhi?"

 

"Shhh."

 

I looked at koray who rolled her eyes, but even she couldn't completely wipe the smile off her face.

 

"So you're planning to help us?" I asked hopefully.

 

"I was kind of hoping you could take a break as well."

 

"I don't think we could, what do you think Koray?"

 

"I think the invitation was only for you." Koray winked at me.

 

"So, can you?" He widened his eyes at me looking hopeful.

 

"I don't think so. We don't have enough staff."

 

"How many staff members do you have?"

 

"Including us?" Koray asked.

 

"Including you." He smiled.

 

"two."

 

He looked at me. "Two?"

 

"It's not my fault." I was feeling quite defensive, "because of this one," I gestured towards Koray, "I was left to sort out everything."

 

Kaoru deflated and gave us both a forlorn look. He opened his mouth to say something else when he was all but shoved out of the way by Tsuneo.

 

"Hey, Kamiya Hoshi wasn't it? Mind if I call you Hoshi?"

 

"Um... well,"

 

"Great. So Hoshi, sorry about my bitchy girlfriend. I'm think about breaking up with her." He winked at me.

 

I tried to put a vague smile on my face as I began to busy myself with making another smoothie. Kaoru suddenly pushed Tsuneo to the side and glared at him.

 

"Who do you think you are? Leave Hoshi alone. She's our friend, not yours."

 

"Shut the fuck up, Kaoru, you're acting like Hikaru." Koray snapped.

 

Kaoru tried to make eye contact with me but I avoided him and turned away.

 

"Fine."

 

When I turned around again, he'd left the smoothie bar. I stared after him, feeling a bit like someone had just stabbed me. I didn't mean to upset him. Just when I thought the drama was over, Mayoko ran over, slapped Tsuneo, and followed Kaoru out. Koray stood, her mouth hanging open. So many thoughts ran through my head. Why was this happening? Why didn't I stick up for him? Should I follow him?

Tsuneo winked at me again, and I felt a wave of rage. This was all his fault. But Koray shook her head slightly, and we both stood and watched one more person leave the smoothie bar.  


 

** Koray **

 

I watched as fewer and fewer customers started to arrive into the smoothie bar as other big events started to occur in various areas of Ouran Academy, grabbing parents attention. It was both fortunate and unfortunate about the immense heat during the day; fortunate as it meant a bigger profit for the smoothies as more people bought a refreshing drink and unfortunate as we had to work in the heat. Just me and Hoshi, no staff apart from Mrs Yuuma, the lady who ran the Scorpio Smoothie bar, who was instructing us on how to make each individual smoothie. To be honest, for a small and sweet little old lady she was harsh as hell on how the smoothie's were made, scaring Hoshi half to death when she accidentally dropped an extra grape into the bursting grape smoothie. It was an actual relief when she took a break when Hoshi brought out the melting cheesecake or she would not have lived to see another cheesecake again.  


The humidity was finally fuelling my hair into the worst frizz, but I had it down during most of the day to hide the Rikimaru Dragon League tattoo that was on the back of my neck. Tattoos are apparently bad for business, especially with parents involved. With no more customers to serve for the moment, I ducked under the counter and hung my head upside down to throw up my hair into the messiest bun anyone has ever seen.  


"Never knew you had that," I heard a judgemental voice comment behind me. I jumped up so fast that I almost fell over. Anzu sat on a counter stool peering over the side. Her dark, eyeliner smeared eyes gleamed and she raised her eyebrow at my heat-driven clumsiness.  


"Had to get one now that I'm heir," I told her, "I chose a pretty hidden place."  


"Not so hidden now," she smirked and flipped her messy bob of blonde hair which looked better than it did a couple months ago. "Two smoothies; an apple blast and a spice berry."  


"And the magic word is?" I sighed.  


" _Smoothie_? Because they are  _smoothies_." I shook my head and muttered whilst I started to make the smoothies. "Where's Hoshi? You look quite understaffed."  


"She ran off to find Kaoru now that it's quieter," I mumbled as I cut my thumb trying to slice an apple, "Some sort of argument. No clue, I haven't really had time to pay attention."  


Once the ingredients were independently blending in the blender, I looked up to see Hikaru enter and sit down a seat away from Anzu.  


"So how's your stall going?" I asked them.  


Hikaru shrugged. Anzu smiled, "Oh so well, loads of people wanting a getaway, piling into the carriage. All I have to do is greet them and collect the money, but in this heat its exhausting."  


"Oh poor you," Hikaru scowled at her, ignoring me, "God, driving those people around is stupid. You should hear the conversations they have. Do they know I can hear everything?"  


Just as I was about to answer, I heard a posh French accent call out, "God, how long do you have to wait for service here? This is the most irresponsible management in the whole building!"  


I looked over to see a woman in a red dress sit down at one of the tables beside the window, fanning herself. Her golden hair was sleek, and flat, as if it was armoured against the humidity. Tamaki tucked her seat in and then sat across from her. I raised my eyebrow, wasn't he supposed to be working on the host club for the rest of the day?  


"Anzu, do you think you could pour your drinks after another minute of blending," I asked her politely, "It looks like she's going to be a difficult customer."  


Anzu rolled her eyes and sighed before jumping off her stool and heading behind the counter.  
I slowly made my way towards the table in a silent protest against the rude woman. "Welcome!" I smiled sarcastically at her, "Do you know what you would like to order?"  


"Of course I know," she tittered into her fan, "the real question is do  _you_  know?"  


"I don't," I stated and stared at her blankly, " _You_  haven't told me."  


" _You_  never asked?" she laughed.  


Tamaki had to hold me back from yelling at her and slapping that smug smile off of her face.  


When I had composed myself, I smiled bitter-sweetly and asked again, " _what_  would you  _like_  to order?"  


"I would  _like_  peach tea - extra ice. And have you got anything other than that disastrous looking slop you call cheesecake?"  


"Eclair-" Tamaki started.  


"We have carrot cake?" I smiled again. The only other cake we had left because Hoshi was obsessed and ordered more carrot cake than any other cake we were offering.  


"I suppose that'll have to do."  


"Tamaki," I looked at his sunken face and wondered what had happened and why he was entertaining so far away from the host club. "Would you like anything?"  


"Just hot tea if you have any," he looked me in the eyes and he looked deflated. Boy this woman had really dampened Tamaki's sparkle, happy-go-lucky attitude.  


I nodded and walked away to prepare the drinks. I cut a fairly large slice of carrot cake for the woman just to get rid of the horrid stuff.   


"Hey, Koray," Hikaru grabbed my already split attention, "could I have a refill?"  


"As long as you pay for it then you can have five drinks and a whole cake for all I care."  


I prepared his drink after Tamaki and the stupid French lady's drinks were ready to serve.  


"Anzu, could you do the same?" I asked, pointing my head at the buzzing blender as I picked up a tray.  


"I can do it," Hikaru suggested.  


"Hikaru," Anzu chuckled, "You'll have no idea what you're doing, have you even seen a blender?"  


He looked at me with outrage, his amber eyes raging. I shrugged and thanked Anzu as she prepared another drink for a customer who had just come in.   


"She joined Hoshi and I when we were learning how to make them last week." I told Hikaru before I rushed over to Tamaki's table. I settled their drinks onto coasters, giving the pastry named woman an over exaggerated smile. I settled the large slice of cake in front of her and placed a fork next to it. She turned her nose up at it.  


"I'd ask if you'd like any cream," I raised my eyebrow, "but it curdled in the heat."  


"And  _this_  is what you call  _extra ice_ ," she cried lifting up her glass that contained two very small ice cubes.  


"The heat is melting everything including my patience, good day to you both," I smiled one last time before the pastry woman told me.  


"You know my family is well connected to yours, we give yours funding, Rikimaru," she smirked, "It'd be embarrassing to have to explain to your parents why I gave you such a bad report."  


"Exclair!" Tamaki warned.  


"Wouldn't be the first time," I mumbled, thinking of how i still had to prove myself after the dinner that went wrong, "I couldn't care less about your opinion. In fact-"  


I was interrupted by the sound of Tamaki's gasp and a choking noise from behind me. I snapped around to see that Hikaru had fallen off the stool, onto the hard wooden floor, clutching his throat, breathing extremely fast.   
"Is that boy dying from  _your_  horrid smoothies?" Eclair gasped.  


I scowled at her and ran towards Hikaru who's breathing had reduced to small gasps.


	20. 19 - What Doesn't Kill You Makes A Smoothie

** Hoshi **

 

I sprinted through the crowds, pushing people out of my way as I peered around. Every time I saw someone with ginger hair I grew hopeful, but it never turned out to be the ginger idiot that I was looking for. An old lady who looked a bit like Tamaki got in my way and sneered at me when she saw the panic on my face. I merely elbowed her in the stomach and continued past her, ignoring her angry shouts behind me.

 

I noticed the carriage that I was sure Hikaru and Anzu were working on and decided to see if either of them had seen him. But as I got closer I saw that neither of them were there. In fact it was the person I least wanted to see who was standing beside the horses.

 

"Oh heyyy. How's it going little sis?" Yuko was plaiting the mane of the horse on her right, adding ribbons every now and then.

 

"Where's Hikaru and Anzu?" I stopped in front of her and tried to ignore the tugging feeling in my chest. It was probably just from the running. That was it. The running.

 

"They said something about a smoothie bar." She finished the mane she was plaiting and drifted over to me.

 

"Right. You haven't seen Kaoru have you."

 

"Ginger skinny twin?"

 

"yeah."

 

"Nope, haven't seen him." She began re-tying my hair into a high ponytail, complete with a large bow on top of my head.

 

"Ok. Call me if you see him, alright?"

 

"That's fine." She hummed in a singsong voice, "If you see Hikaru or Anzu, phone me, ok. They've been gone for about an hour now."

 

"Yeah, sure"

 

For a minute, I considered how odd it was that they'd both been gone for nearly an hour, even though it was the middle of the day and they would definitely have customers if they were at the stall. But I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and turned around to continue my search.

 

"Oh, and Hoshi?"

 

"What?" I glanced around.

 

"You're close to that boy, right?"

 

"I guess?"

 

"Does he know?"

"None of them know." I turned back around, "And that's how it's going to stay."

And I sprinted away from my sister.

 

Jogging in the heat wasn't as fun as it sounded. My face was sweating and my hair was sticking to the back of my neck. Soon I couldn't maintain a particularly fast past and I tripped over nothing more than once.

Even with worry of not knowing where Kaoru was, I could still appreciate that this was great training. But still, I had no idea where he was.

 

I stopped in the middle of the courtyard and slapped myself so hard that I could feel a red mark appearing. Stupid Hoshi. Stupid, stupid Hoshi. His stall. His stall he was running with Haruhi. It was so obvious that I laughed out loud at my stupidity. A woman to my left hurried her little son away from me.

 

Kaoru and Haruhi's stall had something to do with fashion, so my guess was that it would be inside. With a new burst of energy, I took off running to the main school building. The crowd grew more difficult to negotiate the closer I got to the main entrance. But after a lot of pushing, I reached the front door. It was easier to push through the crowds here and I soon arrived in the main hall. I looked around the space until I spotted a girl with short brown hair waving at me. She was wearing the Ouran male's uniform.

 

"Hey Haruhi." I speed walked over to stand in front of the alarmingly big table where all manners of fabric where spread. Three large wardrobes stood behind the table, and curtains that where hung up between them created rooms that served as somewhere for potential buyers to try things on.

 

"Hey. Are you here to see Kaoru?"

 

"How did you know?" I tilted my head to the side slightly, wondering if she possessed some kind of mind reading ability.

 

"He came back here crying about how he was just trying to help but you all got angry with him. What did you do?"

 

"I didn't do anything. Where is he?"

 

But she didn't need to answer because at that moment he stepped out of one of the changing rooms wearing a white suit.

 

"Oh," he said, his eyes flicking over to me, "what are you doing here?"

 

"I came to find you. I'm sorry we didn't take your side."

 

"It's fine." He gave me a look that said it was anything but fine.

 

"It's obviously not. Please, I really am sorry. Drop by the smoothie bar at the end of the day and I'll give you a free smoothie."

 

"Is that another couple deal?" He smirked slightly, and it almost seemed that he was back to his old self.

 

"N-no, nothing like t-that." I looked away quickly.

 

Haruhi burst out laughing and began muttering something about how we were so obvious. Koaru's phone rang and he answered it meaning that our conversation was apparently over. Feeling that I'd sorted out as much as I possibly could for the time being. I was about to go when I heard what Kaoru was saying.

 

"Boss, just calm down and tell me what's wrong."

 

"What's going on?" I asked him, slightly concerned. He shrugged and switched to speaker phone.

 

Tamaki was saying a lot of word that didn't make sense. All I could really pick up as –"Hikaru", "wrong", "where?".

 

"Tamaki-senpai, what are you talking about?" Haruhi asked urgently.

 

We heard a lot of shouting, a slapping noise and the sound of Tamaki whining "Owww."

 

"Kaoru. Where's Hikaru's bag? It's not with him!" Koray shouted down the phone.

 

Koaru's eyes widened at the surprising time of her terrified voice. "Why-why do you need it?"

 

"Kaoru, Hikaru is in the middle of a serious allergic reaction, so if you don't tell me where his bag could be, right now, I will kill you when he is dead because he wouldn't have gotten his EpiPen in time!" Koray screamed causing Kaoru, Haruhi and I all to wince.

 

Kaoru's eyes filled with panic. "Probably, urgh, um. At his stall! I can go get it-"

 

"NO. I'm closer, I'll get it. You just get to the smoothie bar as quickly as possible. Hikaru needs you." And with that, she hung up.

 

Kaoru's whole body was shaking and tears where starting to form in his eyes. I caught Haruhi's eye and she nodded. I grabbed Kaoru's hand and dragged him out of the hall and through the front doors. We shoved our way through the crowds in silence and were soon sprinting at top speed towards the smoothie. We both ignored the heat and were making better time than I'd made when I was trying to find him.

 

We arrived at the smoothie bar and crashed through the door. Kaoru screamed out, "Where is he? Where's Hikaru?" Then immediately ran over to Hikaru who was sitting propped up against a pillar. He didn't look too good, but he didn't look like he was dying either. They must have got him the EpiPen just in time. Koray was sitting at a table to a window, sipping a smoothie and watching the twins.

 

"Hi." I sat down next to her.

 

She turned to look at me and appeared to force a small smile onto her face. "You couldn't have taken a break at the  _worst_  possible moment."

 

 

** Koray **

 

"Hikaru!" I yelled, throwing myself on my knees next to him and held him in my arms. "What's happening? Are you choking? I know you're not in the position to tell me but I have no clue what to do!"  


He looked at me quizzically as he clutched his throat and stomach; he started retching as if trying to throw up. This didn't seem like choking, his neck looked like it was swelling up. I remembered back to Halloween when he had told me his only allergy was penicillin. But this seemed like an allergic reaction? Did he somehow swallow penicillin?  


I grabbed his cup, sniffed it, looked inside it and drank a small part of it. It tasted medicinal, not like a spice berry blast though the spices did a good job of trying to disguise it.  


"What the hell are you doing, Koray?" Tamaki yelled at me running towards where I was holding Hikaru,

"He's choking and you're finishing his drink for him?"  


"It's an allergic reaction, you moron!" I yelled at him and turned to Hikaru who seemed to look quite faint, still gasping and retching, "Hikaru, where is your epipen?" He didn't respond, "TAMAKI, GET KAORU ON THE PHONE NOW AND ASK HIM WHERE HIKARU KEEPS HIS EPIPEN!" Tamaki did as he was told and started to dial.  


"Probably in his bag, Koray," Anzu sighed, remaining perched on her stool.  


"Where's Hikaru's bag?" I yelled at her.  


"I don't fucking know," she yelled back  


I saw Hikaru start to slip away and I slapped his face and shook his head, "NO YOU ARE NOT SLIPPING AWAY RIGHT NOW! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO LEAVE ME!"  


I heard Tamaki blabbering away, trying explain to Kaoru what was happening in a very unhelpful way.  
"FORGET THE EXPLANATION, TAMAKI! I NEED THAT EPIPEN NOW!"   


Tamaki was taking way too long to get to that point that I leaned over Hikaru, slapped Tamaki hard across his face to get him out of the shock he was in and grabbed his phone while he howled with pain.  


"Kaoru. Where's Hikaru's bag? It's not with him!" I yelled own the line  


Tamaki was taking way too long to get to that point that I leaned over Hikaru, slapped Tamaki hard across his face to get him out of the shock he was in and grabbed his phone while he howled with pain.  


"Kaoru. Where's Hikaru's bag? It's not with him!" I yelled own the line  


"Why- why do you need it?" he stuttered.  


I screamed into the air causing Tamaki to jump back. "Kaoru, Hikaru is in the middle of a serious allergic reaction, so if you don't tell me where his bag, could be, right now, I will kill you when he is dead because he wouldn't have gotten his EpiPen in time!"  


Kaoru started to stammer, "Probably, urgh, um. At his stall! I can go get it-"  


"No," I told him firmly, "I'm closer, I'll get it. You just get to the smoothie bar as quickly as possible. Hikaru needs you." Then I hung up abruptly. I started getting up, laying Hikaru onto Tamaki's lap. "His bag's at the carriage. I'm getting it."  


"Koray, I can get it-" Anzu started.   


"No," I screamed, "He is my responsibility; I'm not letting him die!"  


I ran out the smoothie bar and across the street to where the pink school stood. I pushed and shoved past parents, causing quite a scene around the school but I didn't stop, not matter how many teachers tried to make me. My thoughts were exploding. Was this my fault? Was it because I told him? Or did they want payback, knowing Hikaru was one of my closest friends?  


I made it out to the courtyard where Mori and Hunny were standing beside the carriage. They greeted me happily when I ran to them.  


"Where's Hikaru's bag?" I asked, them trying to catch my breath.  


"Koray-chan, look at what Takashi can-"  


"I DON'T HAVE TIME, WHERE IS HIKARU'S BAG?" I screamed, tears running down my face. Hunny cowered into Usa-chan at my harshness but Mori could see my distress and knew that something was wrong. He searched the carriage and threw the bag to me and then jumped down.   


"Koray, what's going on?" He asked and I started to run.  


"No time!"   


Soon he and Hunny were running behind me. We soon caused quite the commotion running back through the school, having suddenly multiplied from one runner into three.   


When we got into the room, I threw down the bag and rifled through it. "How's he doing?" I questioned Tamaki.  


"His breathing has slowed down a lot but he's still responding," he answered quickly, getting out of my way.  


"Is Hika-chan going to be okay?" Hunny asked Mori while holding Usa-chan closely to his chest. Mori grunted.   


I pulled out a small emergency case that held the epipen and I opened it before I stopped. "Koray, what are you waiting for?" Tamaki asked.  


"Where do I put it?" I questioned realising that I had no clue, "Where the hell do I put it?"  


"I suggest the stomach, where it'll get through his system quickly," Kyoya advised behind me, having suddenly appeared in the room.   


I held Hikaru and then jammed the needle into his stomach, being careful not to lethally stab him. I then pushed down the thing to let the adrenaline in. After a moment, Hikaru's started to relax, no longer clutching his throat. I sighed with relief, still holding Hikaru, I rested my head on his chest and tried to regulate my own breathing which was loud and irregular from the panic.  


After a couple of minutes, private doctors from Kyoya's family had entered the smoothie bar and started to open their bags. I looked at Hikaru and he gave me a weak smile. He was about to speak when one of the doctors told me to give them some room to check him. I ended up having to give them a statement of what I had done.  


I sat on one of the chairs facing out the window as the host club all sat together at a table drinking the tea I had given them. They knew they had to give me some space. I looked over nervously where Hikaru was sat. The doctors had leaned him against a wall, a blanket covered his shoulders as they had forced him to throw up moments before.  


"Where is he?" I heard a scared voice entering the room, "where's Hikaru?"  


Kaoru and Hoshi ran into the smoothie bar and Kaoru ran straight to Hikaru's side when he saw him sat there. Hoshi looked horrified at the scene before her. We made eye contact and she hurried over, her green eyes wide with concern. Her hair was a complete mess in a high ponytail with some weird giant bow attached to it.  


She sat down across from me and I gave her a fake smile. "Hi," she whispered.  


"You couldn't have taken a break at the worst possible moment," I sighed and wiped my nose on my sleeve.   


"What happened?" she asked quietly, looking round the now wrecked room. Tables were pushed aside, chairs all over the place, two spilt drinks, the contents of Hikaru's bag strewn everywhere and a pile of vomit in a mixing bowl.  


"We're going to need to know the whole story too," said one of Kyoya's private police officers. He sat across me and Hoshi. "I need you to tell me who was present and what happened."  


I explained the events leading up to Hikaru's reaction, telling them how I didn't serve the drink and that Anzu did. The officer thanked me and left the room.  


Moments later, two officers came in dragging Anzu into the room. She yelled, "why are you holding me forcefully? I haven't done anything."  
  
"Hey, what's going on?" Hoshi yelled and got up from her chair. She tried to get to Anzu but the officers pushed her away.

 

The officers sat her down, and the one I had spoken to sat across from her. "Miss Tachibana, please explain your version of events."  


"If that's all I had to do then why take me here by force?" She demanded.  


"We have suspicions that you have poisoned Mr Hitachiin."  


"What? That's insane!" Hoshi cried out from where she stood near the officers.  


"Miss Tachibana, please explain how Mr Hitachiin had traces of penicillin in his drink."  


"What does that have to do with anything?" she spat.  


"He has an allergy to penicillin and you served the drink." The officer stated.  


"What?" she gasped in shock, "Oh god. Oh god, it's all my fault!"  


"What do you mean by that, Miss Tachibana?"  


"I have penicillin for my tonsillitis, in liquid form. I put it in my smoothie so it tasted better. I must have given that one to Hikaru instead!"  
  
Anzu cradled her head in her arms in shock. The officer patted her shoulder and then wrote this down. He then got up and spoke quietly to Kyoya. By this time, Mr Suoh was in the room demanding to be told what was going on in his school.  


All I could think about was how none of what Anzu was saying made any sense. As my thoughts started rushing, untidily through my head, I knew something was wrong and I knew Anzu had everything do with it; it was no accident.  


"It doesn't make sense," Hoshi mumbled in distress.  


"No...It doesn't," I murmured angrily.  


"What do you-"  


I stood up and joined Kyoya and the officer who were discussing the accident.  


"It doesn't make sense," I told them.   


"Could you be more open, Miss Rikimaru?" the officer asked me.   


"Anzu and Hikaru both ordered different drinks, how could Anzu confuse her order?" I told him.  


"Mistakes can be made," the officer gave me a reassuring smile but I scowled at him.  


"But even so, the drinks were two completely different scents and colours, how can that be so confusing?" The officer was about to speak again but I interrupted, "Anzu has displayed no signs of tonsillitis, not even now. If she had tonsillitis bad enough to need penicillin in liquid form, a dose as big as she had, then why isn't she showing visible signs of tonsillitis?"  


"Intriguing," Kyoya commented.  


"Isn't it just?" I mumbled. "Kyoya, you have probably made some kind of fact file about each host club member that the customers know of?"  


"I have," he agreed.   


"Would these happen to mention the hosts' allergies at all?" I asked.  


"Yes, so they can be aware in case they give any gifts that would cause an allergic reaction."  


I raised my voice, fully understanding what I was about to say. "Kyoya, do you see what I'm pointing towards?" He nodded and smiled at my sudden rise in intelligence. I continued still talking aloud as if addressing everyone, "Anzu, having been humiliated by Hikaru's refusal earlier last year, wanted to get back at him. She didn't know how or when to get back at him. She's in the top classes, which means she cares about her grades. Being in a partnership with Hikaru, she needed a good grade from that partnership-"  


"So if anything were to happen to Hikaru before the fair, she would not get the grade," Kyoya caught on.  


"Precisely," I agreed.  


"Hold on," Hoshi yelled, "What the  _hell_  are you implying?"  


"That Tachibana Anzu poisoned Hikaru on purpose!" I scowled at her.   


"What?" the hosts and Hoshi gasped.  


"How can you prove this?" Hoshi spat.  


"Quite easily," Kyoya smiled, his glasses reflected shining light and his lips displayed a smirk, "Koray has quite cleverly pointed out that Tachibana shows no physical signs of tonsillitis; not enough to need a whole bottle of liquid penicillin prescription, which is not noted in your her file at all. She has also pointed out that Tachibana's past relation to Hikaru and your hatred for him. Is that evidence enough, officer?"   


"That's enough evidence to make an accusation," the officer replied heading over to put Anzu in handcuffs.  


"Why would you do this?" I asked Anzu.  


"Koray, there's  _no way_ -"Hoshi interrupted.  


"Anzu, you're not defending yourself. You're not as smart as you thought you were being," I hissed, "Now tell me why you'd try to kill him!"  


"Isn't it obvious, Koray?" Anzu chuckled. "I hate you both."  


"Anzu, what are you-" Hoshi gasped.  
  
"Hoshi, how could you not see it?" Anzu spat and scowled at me, "spending so much time with her, with the guy who hurt me so much. I knew I had to get you away from them."  


"By trying to  _kill_ Hikaru?" Hoshi gaped.  


Anzu smirked, "God, you're so innocent, Hoshi, no wonder you still haven't figured it out." Anzu turned on me, "Your family killed both of my boyfriends, Koray."  


"What are you talking about?" I went into her face and glared.  


I saw a few awkward glances around, including some of the officers, they knew they shouldn't be involved in my family's business, even Kyoya knew that and his father did too.   


Anzu laughed, "My boyfriend was found in the canal, the Rikimaru Dragon symbol branded onto his back. He was shot. He never drowned."  
  
"Gaito?" Hoshi asked and Anzu nodded, "But you knew this when you met Koray?"  


"Yeah, that's right. I've had to pretend to tolerate her for months for you, Hoshi. First her family kills my boyfriend, then steals my best friend, the guy I liked and just when I had settled, she kills my new boy friend. Yes, you killed him! And we know it was you!"  
  
"Errr," I walked away and shook my head, not believing a word of this, how could it be true? She was from the Ketsueki Samejima mafia the whole time?  


"Take her out the building," Mr Suoh instructed the Ootori police officers.  
  
"No wait," Hoshi pleaded, "Anzu this is a mistake right?"  
  
"No point denying it! You're all against me!"  


The officers grabbed Anzu's arms and dragged her out the room despite her protests. We all watched till the doors slammed shut. Hoshi looked distraught and wobbled over to a chair and sat down shakily in shock.  


"Wow, Koray-chan, you worked that out all by yourself?" Hunny asked me with a mouthful of leftover carrot cake. I nodded.  


I shrug and start to tidy up. Hoshi started to help me and we eventually got the place straightened out. The Ootori doctors had stabilized Hikaru and he seemed to be perking up. The doctors had said there was no need to take him to hospital as the traces of penicillin were mostly out of his system. He would just need supervision for 24 hours.  


After most people had left, and the room returned to normal, the day was over. We had stayed late to get everything ready for the last day of the fair tomorrow.  


I picked up my bag and let down my hair and started to leave before Hoshi stopped me. "Koray, how  _did_  you know?"  


"To be honest...I didn't," I sighed and raked a hand through my hair, "I just thought she was a crazy ass jealous bitch when I worked out she poisoned Hikaru. I had no clue she belonged to the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia."  
  
Hoshi was silent for a while, her face confused. "But how did you- how could she?" Hoshi let a tear slip down her face before wiping it off.  
  
"Hoshi, seriously, it's a shock to us all," I patted her shoulder, even though it felt awkward. "At least the we now know?"  


"Yeah, I'm glad my near death experience helped to clear up the situation," Hikaru added as he walked towards Hoshi and I. He had re-entered the room after changing and seeing his parents. He awkwardly smiled at Hoshi who looked nervous and awkward when Kaoru stood in the doorway.  


I scowled at Hikaru's insincerity.   


"I think you should go get some sleep, Hoshi, we have to do this all again tomorrow," I told her.  


She groaned seeming somewhat normal again. Kaoru came over and started talking to Hoshi, taking her mind off things, before they left the room together. She was in such a state.  


"I just want to say thanks...for saving my life. Koray, it means a lot," Hikaru smirked awkwardly.  


"I better hope it means a lot," my voice trembled as I smiled, "that was scary as fuck." And then I did something completely out of character; I hugged him. He was tense with surprise for a moment, but then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around me. I could hear his heartbeat in his chest and we stood like that for a while.  


Then I looked up into his amber eyes, "You're not getting away from me that easily, Hitachiin."  


"Damn," he smiled back, "and here I thought I was getting away."


	21. 20 Part 1 - This is Our Ouran Fair

** Koray **

 

I had gotten a worrying text from Hikaru that night, he wasn't making much sense, I could tell he was upset. I asked him if Kaoru was with him but he told me he wanted space as Kaoru was treating him like a baby, though he did almost die that day.

 

So I snuck out of the mafia estate and made my way to the Hitachiin mansion. I snuck in past their security, though I wore black leggings and a black, holy knitted jumper, for dark "camouflage". Stumbling into a part of their garden, there was a patio, surrounded by grass then many trees, the rest of the garden was decorated with flowers of every colour, and because of the season, the grass was covered in a layer of cherry blossom petals. I saw something move near the fountain, just south of the patio, furthest from the house. I sneaked up closer till I saw the ginger hair and tiptoed slowly.

 

"Hikaru?" I whispered to the ginger haired silhouette. 

 

When he turned around, he used his phone's torch to shine in my eyes, which made me stumble towards him.

 

"Sorry, you surprised me," He apologised, putting me back on both my feet after I had fallen.  
  
"It's fine," I chuckled, dusting myself off awkwardly. "At least I still have the element of surprise." I saw that worried look on his face and knew whatever Tamaki had said was taking up most of his thoughts. "So what's happened?"

 

That's when I found out that the Host Club was disbanding. Hikaru and I had stayed up half the night, sitting by the fountain, talking about it. Tamaki was now engaged to the pastry bitch lady which meant the  _'king'_  of the host club couldn't entertain other ladies, which was understandable. What wasn't understandable was why he wouldn't wait till he graduated from school? I had expressed to Hikaru how uncomfortable and unsettled Tamaki seemed by her in the smoothie stall and when she complained whilst Hikaru was almost dying. The more we talked, the more comfortable Hikaru started to become away from his brother. In other occasions when we've been alone, he was still influenced by Kaoru in some way. He was worrying, that was for sure. He was hurting. The Host Club had pulled both he and Kaoru out of their bubble and into reality, letting them see what life could actually be like. Though now he had the capability and confidence to talk to others and make friends, he had the host club to lean on, without that, what would be behind him but himself? He just didn't want to be alone.

 

I don't know whether I was comforting enough or not, but I knew I must have helped when he hugged me first before I left.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I contemplated whether or not to go into school for the last day of the fair. As it was the second day, people who were a part of clubs (most of the school) had to prioritise club exhibitions, if people were not part of clubs then they could re-open their stalls for the second day. I would have opened the smoothie shop, just for something to do, but because of the investigation the twins' parents started into Hikaru's poisoning, there would be no way that we could set foot there. I could have gone into school just to hang out with Hoshi or the twins, but because of club priorities, they'd have their hands tied.

 

In the end, I just spent the morning catching up on my sleep and then trained for two hours. By the time it was the afternoon, it felt like a whole day had passed. I decided that I had to busy myself and not sleep. So peeling myself away from the bench where I sat panting, drenched in sweat from training, I sloped into the shower. Feeling fresher, I threw on a black lace skirt and a black and white, off the shoulder t-shirt, because I felt like I shouldn't even bother wearing uniform when I was only going to spend the rest of the afternoon in the host club before the ball.

 

Before I could leave though, my mother came into my room without knocking on the door. She stood in my room like a dominating presence. Her eyes watched me icily before she smiled and said to me, "I'll be joining you this afternoon for your school's little fair."

 

"You really don't need to, mother," I bowed my head, not meeting her eye, "It'll be a waste of your time."

 

She tutted with a smirk, "Oh, Koray, I won't be joining you for my own pleasure, I have business to attend to."

 

"What business?" I knew that it was dangerous to ask her this kind of question but I felt like if it was business to do with Ouran, I should know.

 

She rolled her eyes without a smile, "the Ootori's apparently need our assistance with something. I got the call this afternoon. I have to meet with Ootori at your school and apparently you go to that host club that his son runs."

 

"You want to go to the host club?"

 

"I want you to take me to the host club."

 

"As you wish, mother." I was afraid of this moment. I had never wanted anyone to meet my parents if they hadn't done so already, especially not Hikaru or Hoshi.

 

We arrived at the school in the mafia's limo and I tried to keep my face hidden, though it was no use because everyone knew who my mother was and who I was. My mother brought two bouncers to make her look official, because she had the opportunity and she took it. I deadpanned in silence before grudgingly leading the way to music room #3.

 

Once we got there, everyone looked our way and I awkwardly looked around for Kyoya so this could be over and done with.

 

"How quaint," my mother mumbled.

 

The atmosphere was very one-sided without Tamaki, there was no comical air sounding the place and as much as I wouldn't admit it, the charm was kind of...lost. Everyone was busy though, Mori and Hunny were swarmed with people talking to them, mostly Hunny, about martial arts, and what grade he was in and so on. The twins were busy doing their act for a group of girls and their mothers. I saw Kyoya get up from the table he was at and approached me and my mother with a gentlemanly smile.

 

"Welcome. Koray, this must be your mother," Kyoya held out a hand to shake.

 

Knowing her act, I watched angrily as she stripped off her glove seductively so everyone could see before shaking his hand as though it was less than her. "Rikimaru Anya," she greeted, "It is a very... _charming_  club you have here, Kyoya. Where is your father?"

 

"Thank you, madam. My father will be along shortly so I let you have a seat somewhere. Would you like to meet any of our hosts today?" My eyes widened in horror at his suggestion but thankfully my mother shook her head in refusal. Kyoya showed us to a spare table next to a window, as if it had been reserved for her.

 

I could hear whispers everywhere, "so that's Rikimaru's mother?", "wow they look so alike" and "she looks so glamorous".  
  
My mother looked around and smirked, which was worrying and gave me no indication of what she was doing here other than meeting with Kyoya's father. She looked out at everyone who watched us with side glances and rolled her eyes. "Can nothing be civil?" she mumbled, picking up the teapot from the table pouring it into a tea cup. "Koray, darling," she addressed me in a fake motherly voice, "Why don't go talk to your friends whilst I talk with Mr Ootori."   
  
"Fine," I mumbled and I looked behind to see Kyoya's father walking our way, so I got up quickly and rushed over to Kyoya. "What are they even doing?" I asked glumly and looked around seeing Haruhi sitting at a table with the bitch named after a pastry. "What's  _she_  doing here?"  
  
"Apparently now that she and Tamaki are engaged, she finds Haruhi is a threat. She's paying off Haruhi's debt so Haruhi will leave the host club." He sighed.  
  
"But Haruhi's not a threat?"  
  
"Koray, couldn't you see that Tamaki was in love with Haruhi?"

 

"That was obvious," I deadpanned.

 

"Well apparently Éclair can see something in Haruhi that means she's a threat."  
  
"See what though?"

 

By then Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai had joined the conversation and carried the same expression as Kyoya.

 

"You think Haruhi feels the same as Tamaki?" I ask them, Kyoya, Hunny and Mori.

 

"There's no denying she feels something for him," Kaoru inputs walking towards us with Hikaru.

  Hikaru caught my eye and then looked down straight away.    
  
"No one's seen her this down before," Mori added.

 

We all stand there for a moment in silence before I hear my mother's icy laugh mixed with Mr Ootori's. I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Why the hell are our parents having a meeting? What possible business do they even have?"   
  
"Not something they should meet in public about, that's for sure," he mumbled.  
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
Kyoya looked around and then took my arm, dragging me off to the side of the room, acting as if he was observing the space. "Koray, our parents are  _involved_."  
  
Hunny noticed that the rest of them shouldn't be part of the conversation and jumped onto Kaoru's back.

"Come on, Kao-chan let's get back to work!" Hunny exclaimed in his cutesy, happy-go-lucky voice.

"Hunny-senpai, what are you doing?" Kaoru cried out.

 

Mori grabbed Hikaru as he was about to protest, "Mori, what are you-"

 

"Let's go, Hikaru," He mumbled, dragged Hikaru away who looked at me for help till he was out of sight.  
  
I shook my head trying to process what Kyoya was saying. "Well yeah, isn't that why they're having a  _business_  meeting?" I fake smiled when I saw my mother glance in my direction.  
  
Kyoya looked at me with a blunt expression and sighed, looking down, the light reflected on his glasses and he then told me, "Koray, they're having an affair."  
  
I stared at him for a minute or two in complete silence opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish. Then I watched as Mr Ootori rose from his chair, bowed and walked away towards Kyoya. I awkwardly stepped passed him before rushing to my mother who was putting her coat on as parents nearby muttered to each other.  
  
"Mother, can I speak to you outside?" I asked with my teeth gritted together   
  
"Koray, I am quite busy, and I'm leaving now."  
  
"It won't take  _long_ , mother," I told her with salt in my words, "I think there's something you need to  _tell_  me."

  


** Hoshi **

 

I jogged my victory lap, waving my hands in the air. I tried to keep my forced smile on my face, but it was getting more and more difficult the closer I got to the finish line. I needed to get to the host club as quickly as possible. Kaoru had called me this morning in a panic, talking about how Tamaki was disbanding the club because of some woman called croissant, or choux, or whatever.

 

I eventually completed the lap and began sprinting past the cheering spectators. My parents had been too busy to attend the fair and I didn't care about Yuko, so I didn't feel in any way guilty as I continued to leave, even though there was the award ceremony to go. It wasn't like there was any doubt in my winning anyway. I finally reached the exit and began pushing through the crowds of spectators. A few people tried to stop me, but I elbowed them out of the way. Eventually the crowd started to thin out and I was able to start running at full speed.

 

"Slow the hell down, oh sister of mine." Yuko was attempting to keep up with me, but I just continued to run.

 

"I don't have time to deal with you right now." I yelled back, not bothering to turn around.

 

"You're trying to save the precious host club, huh?"

 

"So what if I am?"

 

"I'm going to help you, little sis."

 

"Me or Mori-senpai?" I turned around this time to see that she was blushing.

 

"Shut-it, if you want to live." She threw something at my head and I saw that it was her phone. It smashed on the ground. Idiot.

 

I heard a crunching sound and realised that Yuko had just stepped on her phone and continued running. She must be really serious about this. Or blind. There was quite a good chance that she hadn't noticed it was her phone. I decided to just ignore and let her go to the host club with me. It was easier than arguing with her.

 

I eventually found myself in front of music room #3, mad stopped to catch my breath. Yuko arrived shortly after me and collapsed on the floor wheezing. I stepped over her and

pushed open the double doors, keeping my head down to avoid any of the rose petals getting in my mouth.

 

The club appeared to be running as normal, but there was an obvious tension in the air. I glanced around, trying to locate Koray amongst the crowds of girls and their mothers. She didn't appear to be around so I had to try and find a member of the host club who wasn't busy. They all seemed to have guests, but the twins only had one girl and her mum, so I decided to consult them about what was going on.

 

"Hey guys." I flung myself into the seat next to the girl's mum and reached forwards to grab a glass of iced tea from the table. I was slightly exhausted from all the running I'd been doing recently.

 

"It's not your turn. Who the hell do you think you are?!" The girl didn't seem too happy about my intrusion.

 

"Please don't be cruel to her; she's very important to us." Kaoru had leaned across the table and brushed a strand of hair behind the girl's ear. He was sitting across from me which meant that he'd had to lean past the girl's Mum. They were both swooning.

 

Hikaru caught my eye and winked. "Kaoru's right. Even though our mother left us alone us alone as children, Hoshi was always there to lift us up." He stood up and walked around the table to grab and my arm and hold it up in the air.

 

"Oh, what a darling girl!" The girl's mother clapped her hands together and looked at me adoringly.

 

A bell rang and the two of them stood up, said goodbye and walked away, leaving me with the twins.

 

"What the hell was that about?" I demanded, pulling my arm away from Hikaru's grip.

 

They just smirked at me and shrugged.

 

Sighing, I decided to instead ask – "Where's Koray anyway?"

 

"She's speaking to her mother." Hikaru glanced anxiously over to Kyoya who had appeared beside us.

 

"Is that a bad thing?"

 

"It would appear that my father and Koray's mother are having an affair. Koray went to confront her mother about it." Kyoya answered me coldly, but I noticed that his hand was shaking slightly.

 

"Oh." I couldn't think of anything else to say.

 

"I thought you two were with Hunny and Mori –senpai." Kyoya was directing this question at the twins.

 

"Yeah we were, but host club duties and all that." Kaoru had placed a hand on my shoulder and was giving Kyoya a rather nasty look. I wasn't really sure what that was about.

 

"So... uh... do you need any help with anything?" I offered hoping to try and make things a little less awkward.

 

"HOSHI!" Yuko tackled me and I crashed to the floor taking Kaoru, who still had his hand on my shoulder, with me.

 

"Oww. What?"

 

"WE NEED YOUR HELP."

 

I was picked up off the ground by Mori and my hand was grabbed by Hunny. Kaoru was still lying on the ground with Hikaru hovering above him looking worried. I desperately tried to escape Hunny's grasp but it was too late. I was being dragged away from the others towards the changing rooms at the back of the club.

 

"Sorry to kidnap you like that Hoshi-chan, but we need your help." Hunny said the minute the door was closed.

 

I looked around the room to see rows upon rows of brightly coloured costumes. Mori and Yuko had moved away from us and were sorting through the rails of outfits, removing some of them and throwing them onto a pile that was building up in the middle of the room.

 

"Uhhh,"

 

"Just pick out outfits you think look nice and throw them into the middle of the room." Hunny smiled up at me.

 

We all spent the next ten minutes sorting through and picking clothes. The things that we picked gradually became crazier and at one point a giant purple chicken costume ended up on the pile. I was holding up a guinea pig mask that inexplicably had green feathers growing out of the cheeks when I got a text from kaoru.

 

Need help. In carpark. Bring Hunny -senpai and Mori-senpai.

 

I showed the text to the others and they immediately jumped into action. Mori grabbed Yuko and slung her over his shoulder. She looked surprised but very happy. Hunny opened a door at the back of the room and we all sprinted down the staircase behind it. Well, Yuko didn't sprint as she was being carried. Obviously.

The carpark beneath the school was dimly lit and filled with shadows that cast an eerie atmosphere. There was a light on in the distance and a lot of shouting could be heard from that area. Mori put Yuko down and him and Hunny headed off towards the distant commotion. I exchanged a look with my sister and we followed.

 

When the two senpais disappeared from sight there was a sudden uproar and the commotion seemed to increase. We sped up and saw a carriage surrounded by armed police guards. Hunny and Mori were flying around, taking out the enemies with scary efficiency. I hadn't even known that they did martial arts. Who would have ever expected that they could be that talented? Hunny was a particular surprise.

 

"Hoshi, Kamiya-senpai, what are you guys doing here?" Haruhi was sitting in the back of the carriage with

Kaoru, yelling at us with her hands cupped to her mouth. This was a bad move on her part. The police nearest us suddenly noticed our existence and immediately made toward us.

 

I dodged a kick from the guy on my right, but in doing so I left myself open for the guy on my left. He punched me in the stomach and I had to catch myself before I fell to the ground. Yuko was behind me and was holding a pistol at chest height, shooting anyone who got too close to her in the leg. Where she'd been keeping a pistol was beyond me, but I had bigger problems to deal with. The two guys were circling again and this time I didn't think that they were going to give me time to recover.

 

The left guy made to grab my arm, but my reflexes from a life on the athletics field meant that my reflexes were particularly good - those javelin throwers could be quite careless at times. I twisted around and grabbed his arm instead, using his weight to send him tumbling to the ground and giving me an opening to get away. In a fight or flight situation I knew my limitations and a fighter I was not. Before I could take advantage of this opportunity however, the other (right) guy had swept my feet from under me and sent me crashing to the floor. He then quickly pinned my arms, preventing any further attempt at escape. I tried to wriggle my way free of his grip but he was too strong. In a desperate attempt to free myself, I rolled to the side at the same time as swinging my legs in the air. I caught him in the head with my foot and he gave a grunt of pain. He managed to get back in control pretty quickly however, but not before the sleeve of his shirt had been pulled up in the fight. There was a dragon tattoo twisting around his wrist.

 

His eyes widened when he noticed where I was looking and he growled angrily. A sudden whacking sound caught me off guard and I saw that Hunny had karate kicked the guy off me. He was now in a crumpled bloody heap by the wall.

 

"HOSHI. HOSHI. ARE YOU OK? HOSHI?" Kaoru's shout could be heard as the carriage disappeared out of the main doors.

 

Hunny and Mori made quick work of the remaining attackers, with Yuko – now out of bullets – cheering them on. I struggled to a sitting position, massaging my side that had taken a bad hit in the fight.

 

"Are you in need of any medical assistance?" Kyoya was kneeling beside me with an almost concerned expression on his face.

 

"No I'm good. Where did you appear from?"

 

"I was taking an avoidance strategy to minimize my chances of sustaining an injury."

 

"So in other words, you were hiding until Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai had finished fighting?"

 

"Well technically, yes, but –"

 

"Do you think they'll be ok?" I cut him off, trying to hide just how terrified I was, "The twins and Haruhi, I mean?"

 

"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" he replied, the usual smirk back on his face.


	22. 20 Part 2 - This is Our Ouran Fair

** Koray **

 

"I don't have to answer you, Koray, you are my daughter. It is not the other way around!" My mother hissed at me from the bench she sat on in the school's grounds. We were far away from the school when I confronted my mother about her affair with Mr Ootori. She blew cigarette smoke into the opposite direction, after lighting it with the mafia lighter that had been passed down through four generations. In her other hand she fiddled with the golden lighter, the Dragon's symbol flickering in the sunlight, reflecting pink from the cherry blossoms all around us.

 

"I think I  _deserve_  to know why my own  _mother's_  having an affair with a powerful business man." It took me seconds before I started to think. "It's for business isn't it?" I sat down on the bench next to her, though leaving a wide gap between us.

 

She nodded. "How do  _you_  think I got you off the hook killing the son of the Ketsueki Samejima Mafia? Ootori owns hospitals and police, and if he thinks anything I give him is real then he tries his damn best to deal with the problems I have to face."

 

"You did this because I killed that guy?" I pushed my mane of hair out of my face as she adjusted her tight bun and re-applied her blood red lipstick.

 

"No, Koray, I do it for the entire mafia because we need help. If there's a job to do you do it  _yourself_."  
  
"But don't we have enough money to just pay off police?"  
  
"Mr Ootori has an incredibly sick mind and doesn't just accept money. Koray, I'm making an uncomfortable sacrifice for our family, just like your bother had," she blew more smoke into my face, "And this just shows how you are so much more your father's daughter; weak and disposable. Proving yourself means making a sacrifice." 

 

This was the only time in my life where my mother seemed human to me. She looked to the ground as though what she had to do was terrible, and I guess for her it was, feeling violated to have protection for the people you dedicate your life to. I didn't know what to say for some time, I sat there as she blew out the remaining smoke before stumping out her lipstick stained cigarette.

 

"Mother?" I asked, "What should I do then to prove myself?" She looked at me as if I was a baby talking for the first time; surprised and taken back. Then she smiled an icy smile and I knew her moment of despair was over.

 

That's when she took me by the arm and we got the limo home. We talked for ages in the mafia headquarters about my next steps and what I had to do. She told me exactly what to train for, contacted other leaders to start me off with missions and meetings. She then she decided that I needed to change the way I looked in order to gain the right kind of respect.

 

"No more scruffy clothes and messy attitudes," she had said, "you have to look the part. And going to this ball is the best way for you to show you can be professional and in sync with the upper class as well as getting your hands dirty."

 

She got my hair cut by her stylist, it remained long, though I got a fringe to cover the scar on my forehead I received when I had been beaten up. My hair was toned to make it exactly just as icy as my mother's. My mother then told me if I had to go out then I'd have to do the same routine to keep up appearances. Meaning, like her I'd have to look glamorous and like a mafia leader all the time. I also had to fight and talk like one. I knew the cost of what I was doing, taking away all the freedom I had left, but knowing even my mother hurt herself and even did things she would never do to protect the mafia made me see the mafia completely differently. I knew she had used my brother as bait for me to change my mind completely, but even he didn't want to be the heir, but died trying for the mafia because he believed it was the right thing to do.

 

Once the makeover was over, she made me try on one of her dresses, a tight black dress, and I had to swap my boots for stilettos. She turned me around in front of the mirror and I saw how alike we were, not just in looks.

 

That's when I got the phone call from Kaoru.  I kicked off the stilettos and grabbed my leather jacket. I rushed to the mafia garages knowing the limo would be too slow. I opened one garage door that revealed my brothers old motorbike, standing there under a now dusty sheet. Brought back from Italy, never been ridden since. I grabbed the keys from the hook and ripped off the dusty sheet. I jumped on the bike, revved and left.

 

I sped through streets on the motorbike till I got to the school where people were setting up for the ball. I caused quite the commotion screeching in wildly. I jumped off and left it where it was before I ran into the school and headed straight to the nurses office where I found them.

 

The host club stood in the room surrounding the medical bed Hikaru sat on, getting his arm wrapped with plaster. Kaoru sat next to him, and Hoshi was curled in a heap on a hospital chair, holding ice to her head.. Yuko stood beside Mori, feeling his arm muscles as he stood there uncomfortably. Honey sat on a chair clutching Usa-chan and eating cake. Haruhi and Tamaki stood very closely, though quite wet, while Kyoya stood by the door watching, his notebook closed.

 

They all jumped as they heard the door slam, and their mouths were wide when they saw me and my "transformation".

 

"Koray?"Hunny gasped.

 

"Something's different?" Yuko sarcastically pondered aloud.

 

"What the  _hell_  happened?" I questioned them, I walked over to Hikaru who looked up at me, eyes wide.

 

"We could ask you the same question," he said faintly, looking up to me with confusion.

 

I rolled my eyes and looked back at everyone else, raising my eyebrow and tapping my foot. That's when Kyoya told me everything till Tamaki joined in about Haruhi's arrival to stop him from leaving.

 

"So you're telling me," I started, "That when you tried to drive after Tamaki, your family tried to stop you all?"

 

"Yes, with  _help_ ," Kyoya nodded.

 

I sighed with anger, "and then after driving the carriage for Haruhi to get to Tamaki, when Hikaru falls off into a  _fucking pumpkin patch_  and  _breaks_  his arm, you just  _leave_  him by the side of the road?!" Haruhi sheepishly nodded. "What the hell?! He was hurt! He actually almost died yesterday!" Kaoru tried to tell me that he was with Hikaru but I glared at him. "How the hell do you know how to drive a horse carriage anyway?"

 

"Yeah, Haruhi, how did you know how to?" repeated Tamaki, bewildered by the fact no one had questioned this till now.

 

"I don't know!"Haruhi defended, "It just sorta...happened."

 

I shook my head in disbelief at this crazy bunch of people. "Fucking ridiculous," I muttered.

 

Yuko, who leaned against the wall, cuddling into Mori, stared blankly at me before rolling her eyes. "What are we supposed to do? It's all happened now, no point dwelling in the past."

 

I blinked several times. "She's right," Mori added to Yuko's delight, "What's done is done, and both Tamaki and Haruhi have apologised."

 

I face palmed and grunted. "Seriously?"

 

"Koray, the only one who seems to be bothered, is you," Kyoya pointed out, busily tapping away on his phone.

 

"Maybe it's because it's your natural instinct from being in the mafia that makes you feel like there should be  _more_  than an apology?" Haruhi inputted, looking down after my glare.

 

"What?"

 

"It makes sense," Kaoru added, making me swivel around fast. "Hikaru's here, he's safe and they've both apologised. You just believe something more should be done than an apology, because of the mafia."

 

"Excuse me, but don't go all psycho-analytical on me, right now, Kaoru. Don't pretend that I'm the crazy one who doesn't understand this!"

 

"Koray, we're not saying it's a bad thing," Hoshi mumbled, cradling her head, "It's just a fact."

 

I slumped down next to Hikaru  and looked to the ground, scraping my hand through my fringe. I could feel his eyes burning into my skin but I just couldn't look him in the eye.

 

"What I want to know," Hoshi started, removing the ice from her head, staring straight at me coldly, "Is why  _your_  family's mafia was fighting with Kyoya's police?"

 

"How do you know they were?" I grumbled in disbelief.

 

"The guy who hit me had your mafia's symbol tattooed on his wrist." She admitted.

 

"oh," I sighed and lowered my head, "I have...no idea."

 

"Koray, they all know about our parents," Kyoya told me cautiously, but I didn't give him the reaction he was expecting and just sighed.

 

"Hey, Koray-chan, does that mean you have a tattoo too? That'd be pretty cool!" Hunny-senpai asked, trying to lift the atmosphere.

 

I nodded and stood up, revealing to tattoo on the back of my neck, which they all gaped and gasped at.

 

"No lady's skin must be disfigured!" Tamaki cried out, mocking a faint, "Koray, how could you let them do this to you?"

 

I gave him the evil eye before letting my hair fall down my back again. "I didn't have a choice, I got it when I became heir."

 

"How come it's on your neck?" Mori asked.

 

"I didn't want people seeing it." I mumbled.

 

"So the heir of the Rikamaru Dragon's League mafia gets a hidden tattoo, while all the other members get visible ones? How come?" Yuko asked rather suspiciously.

 

"Just because I'm the heir still doesn't mean I'm a proud member, I don't really have a choice," I growled.

 

I sat down beside Hikaru again, and everyone created a light chatter. I could feel his gaze on my skin, but I couldn't look at him. Eventually the talk died down and people began to leave. I wasn't paying much attention till Kaoru had said something to piss off Hoshi, which caused her to storm off and him to follow her out like a guilty puppy. This left just Hikaru and I alone.

 

Hikaru chuckled, "Even he can be as stupid as I am."

 

"Huh?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow at me, "I wasn't paying attention."

 

"Maybe it was for the best," he mumbled. We sat in silence for a while, the school nurse came and told Hikaru he could leave whenever he wanted to. A few more silent minutes went by till he spoke up. "Thanks for caring, Koray."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Just in general, saving my life, coming to see if I was okay. Standing up for me, thoguh you didn't need to."

 

"Well, that  _is_  because I care." I looked him in his eyes that moment, his bright hazel eyes and gave him a weak smile before almost sobbing. This was the second time Hikaru had seen me cry. He was the only friend so far who had seen me so weak, not even Hoshi had seen my cry.  Hikaru was surprised at first but then put his good arm around my shoulders and held me close, becoming surprisingly more comforting than ever. "Everyone's getting hurt because of me, Hikaru."

 

"That's not true," he soothed, somewhat awkwardly.

 

"Yes, it is! You got poisoned  _because_  Anzu hates  _me_. Hoshi got hurt  _because_  of  _my_  family and who knows what they would have done when fighting all of you! Did you see the way Hoshi was so dismissive?  _My_  family is making everyone hate  _me_ and they should!"

 

"Hoshi is just stressed, Koray. Kaoru's being a stupid twat right now." He turned me to face him. "Koray, becoming friends with you, we all knew who you were and what we were getting into. Nothing changes that. You and your family may be fucking crazy but so are others, you saw that today between Tamaki senpai's family and Kyoya-Senpai's."

 

I nodded and dried my eyes, then cleared my throat, suddenly becoming awkward at how close we were, as Hikaru realised too.

 

He then stood up and offered me a hand up with his good arm. "Rikimaru Koray," he asked, "will you go to the ball with me?"

 

I laughed and took his hand, standing up beside him. Still holding his hand we walked out the nurses office together towards the fairy lights in the corridor that lead to the ball.

 

 

** Hoshi **

 

I was sitting on the same statue that Anzu had sat on months before when Hikaru rejected her. It seemed like a lifetime ago. The soft sound of running water was soothing and I leant back, gripping the cold stone that I was perched on to avoid falling into the water. The trees that had been previously covered in cherry blossom now had rich green leaves. Birds hopped around, singing to each other with beautiful melodies. It was all so calm and peaceful.

 

I'd probably overreacted with Kaoru. He'd just been worried about me after the after the fight. But really. How could he expect me to just hide during it all? It hadn't even been an option! I'd tries to escape, but they'd blocked me! What did he expect me to do, teleport away? And if he'd been so bloody worried, why hadn't he got off the carriage and helped me? I shook my head. That was selfish of me. I couldn't expect him to prioritise me over the host club. It was his whole life. And I was nothing in comparison, which didn't bother me at all. Right?

 

My ribs hurt from leaning back – apparently I'd bruised them in the fight – so I slid off the fountain and sat on the ground leaning against it. The fountain wasn't on the path and was instead on a large patch of grass that the path wound around. Because of this there were daisies all around me and I began to absently pick them and begin stringing them together into a chain, still thinking about my argument with Kaoru. I didn't want to apologise as I hadn't done anything wrong. I'd been attacked, I hadn't started the fight. But I didn't want to argue with him either. I groaned out loud and rolled onto my side.

 

"Ow, ow, ow, why the fuck did I do that? Owwww" I clutched my poor bruised ribs and continued to swear under my breath, unable to get up for the pain.

 

"Crap, are you ok?" A pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and I looked up to see ginger. A pair of worried hazel eyes locked onto mine.

 

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you." I said with as much dignity as I could muster. I tried to sit up, but ended up just hissing through my teeth at the pain and slumping back down again.

 

Kaoru hovered above me, seemingly unsure as to what he should do. I narrowed my eyes at him and attempted to roll onto my other side so that I wouldn't have to look at him. Attempted being the key word. I kind of just ended up lying on my back like a stuck tortoise. The only thing that had been available for me to change into after the fight had been a dress that Kaoru and Haruhi had failed to sell the day before. It was really pretty, I'd give it that, but it was also extremely impractical. It was green with sequins running down the side and was made of layers upon layers of chiffon. I'm sorry when I said pretty what I really meant was little girl's birthday party naff. It was also incredibly difficult to move around in when one was laying on the ground with injured ribs. I swung my arms in the direction that I wanted to roll, hoping the momentum would help in some way, but I had no such luck. I looked like a slightly mad girl wearing a dress designed for a seven year old waving her arms aggressively to one side whilst lying on the ground outside of a prestigious academy. I mean, I was a slightly mad girl wearing a dress made for an seven year old waving her arms aggressively to one side whilst lying on the ground outside a prestigious academy, but shhhh.

 

"Do you want some help?"

 

"I told you, I'm fine." I flung my arms angrily away and finally managed to face away from him. Hah. Hoshi one, green dress zero.

 

"Ok, you're facing away from me. Can we talk now?"

 

"I don't wanna talk to you." I mumbled into the grass.

 

"Seriously? You sound like the boss." I heard him sit down on the grass behind me, sighing as he did so.

 

"Tamaki doesn't want to talk to you?"

 

"No, I just meant... it doesn't matter."

 

"I know what you meant."

 

"Hmmm."

 

"I DID." This time I managed to turn around without the help of my swinging my arms and used this opportunity to glare at him.

 

He burst out laughing, "So you're looking at me now?" The laughter didn't quite meet his eyes though and I could tell that there was something wrong. Not that I cared however. He should be upset after complaining at me. I wasn't going to bring it up; he could just stay unhappy for all I cared.

 

"So what's wrong with you?" Dammit mouth, listen to brain for once will you?

 

"Me?" He raised an eyebrow, "I'm not the one on the ground."

 

"Actually you are as well," He chuckled at that, and seen as I'd already asked I thought I might as well get an answer, "I can see something's bothering you."

 

"Not that you care of course, you're still angry?"

 

"Of course," I nodded in agreement, "I'm just curious is all."

 

"Well, I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

 

"You're... what?"

 

"Sorry." He repeated a little more loudly.

 

"I think I might have heard you wrong." I was pretty sure I hadn't but I wasn't letting him get away that easily.

 

He muttered something under his breath and shook his head. I cupped a hand to my ear and raised my eyebrow.

 

"I said, you aren't going to make this easy, are you?"

 

"And, why should I?" I had managed to successfully sit up and now had my arms crossed over my chest.

 

"BLOODY HELL, HOSHI! YOU GOT IN AN UNNESSESSARY FIGHT AND I'M WILLING TO LET IT GO, BUT YOU GOTTA MEET ME HALF WAY!"

 

"UNNESSESSARY FIGHT?! WILLING TO LET IT GO?!" I painfully pushed myself to my feet so that I towered over him.

 

He stood up quickly and held his hands up in front of himself, his face flushed. "That didn't sound right, I'm sorry, let me start again."

 

"NO, I WILL NOT! YOU'RE APPARENTLY ANGRY AT ME BECAUSE SOME TATTOOED MAFIA ASSHOLE DECIDED TO ATTACK ME. HOW EXACTLY IS THAT MY FAULT MAY I ASK?"

 

"Stop being so stubborn. You're just like Haruhi. She did exactly the same thing that time at the beach."

 

"Haruhi?"

 

"It doesn't matter, ok?"

 

"No, it's not ok. I want to know."

 

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well some girls were being harassed by a couple of guys, so she jumped in and confronted them herself and got thrown into the sea."

 

"And were the girls ok?"

 

"Well yeah but that's not the..."

 

"So, you were angry with Haruhi for creating a distraction to give you guys time to rescue the girls?"

 

"Well... when you put it like that..." He scratched the back of his neck and looked away grumpily.

 

"Look just forget it, alright?" I put my hand on his shoulder and used it to push myself to my feet. I brushed down the hideous green monstrosity – or dress – and looked down at him, still sitting on the floor looking confused and lost.

 

"What are you talking about?" he pushed himself to his feet so that he was looking down at me, trying to get me to make eye contact with him, which I refused to do.

 

"I'm sorry I got my ribs bruised by some random mafia thug who attacked  _me_ while I was trying to help  _you_."

 

"You were trying to help me?" He tried to grab my hand but I stepped away from him.

 

"Just, forget it... ok? Forget it." And with that I turned away and walked back to the school to find my other friends.


	23. 21 - Kiss, Kiss, Strike a Pose!

** Koray **

 

The summer drifted as slowly as the breeze, with hot humidity round every bend. During these few weeks I had to go to mafia meetings and discuss things and make agreements, with my mother's insight of course. It started to feel like the summer was never really going to be a holiday till I actually had a day off during the last week.

 

That's when I made Haruhi and Hoshi meet me at the smoothie bar, mainly because I wanted them to bond, also because we didn't know whether Haruhi had blown her cover as a boy and if so, I thought most people would feel....uneasy around Haruhi, so she'd need all the friends she could get.

 

We were all sitting round the table, discussing how our summers had been and what we'd do at school the new year, though the conversation had been taken over by Yuko, who had decided that she was so bored she had to join us. She started discussing Hoshi and her love life, which was non-existent, yet Yuko had managed to squeeze out the fact that Hoshi had argued with Kaoru on the night of the ball.

 

"Also, Koray, I don't want to offend you," Haruhi started, "but when we saw your mother we were very surprised."

 

"How?" I scoffed dreading the words she may or may not say.

 

"You both have very light hair...for being Japanese," she continued.

 

"We just assumed you bleached yours," Hoshi added.

 

Yuko chuckled, "It runs in the family, Hoshi-woshi, all cold hair - cold hearts!" She cried out dramatically and then raised her eyebrows and hands at me as if telling me it was just a joke, judging from my annoyed expression.

 

"Actually, I'm half-Russian," I explained, "My mother's side is Russian. My Grandmother married into the Japanese Mafia and the Russian gene is the strongest."

 

"Ohhhhh!" They all gasped.

 

I raised my eyebrows at them, and had gotten up from my seat to collect our orders from Mrs Yuuma. My phone then began to ring loudly where I had left it on the table...my ringtone was the nyan cat theme tune.

 

"Cute ringtone," Yuko called over to me, laughing her head off.

 

I rolled my eyes and glared at her. "Hoshi, could you answer it for me if it's someone you know?"

I turned around to collect our smoothies before I heard Yuko's voice shrill through the calming air of the smoothie bar. "Hello Hikaruuu." – "It's Yuko." Hoshi tried to snatch away the phone but Yuko dodged her.

 

"No, Koray, can't come to the phone right now." – "Why? Oh, haha, because she's dead." Hoshi deadpanned."Hikaru, calm the fuck down, I was joking." – "No, but seriously she's busy." – "I was the first to pick up the phone!" – "Look, were you calling her for a reason?"

 

She smiled and held her hand over the speaker. "Koray, your boyfriend is asking for your help and he won't tell me why."

Once Mrs Yuuma handed over our drinks, commenting on how 'of course you had a boyfriend, I should have known!' I stomped over there and dumped the drinks on the table before trying to snatch away my phone, which failed as Yuko was too tall and fast and I was tired hot and tired.

 

"Probably because it's none of your business!" I yelled at her, "Give me the phone!" Haruhi grabbed her drink before it could have spilt anywhere and Hoshi did the same.

 

"Nah-ah-ah, Koray, pass the message to the messenger!" She dangled the phone in front of me as I attempted to snatch it again. Once I had failed 3 times, I sat down in defeat and snatched my drink up, sipping angrily.

 

"Fine," I sighed, "At least put it on speaker so I can talk."

 

Yuko smiled and pressed the button. "Hikaru, you are now on speaker, so no more rude comments in the nice establishment please."

 

"We need your help," he said.

 

"Ah, what with?" I asked.

 

"Well, by we I mean our mother was wondering if she could get girl's inputs on her designs and we thought, well  _I_  thought-"

 

"You thought right!" Yuko declared down the phone, "We'll be at your house soon!"

 

"We?" Hikaru asked.

 

"Yeah, I'm with Hoshi and Haruhi," I recived a light hit on my arm, "And Yuko."

 

"Do you really think that's a good idea giving what went down?"

 

"Hikaru, you're on speaker," Hoshi growled.

 

"You said your mother needed a girls input and here you have a variety of different girls for her to choose from. Hoshi and Kaoru just have to get over what went down because it'd be awkward as hell if it carried on next year!" I received a death glare from Hoshi but I looked down inspecting my smoothie as if it were a mystery box.

 

"Okay, so we'll be there! Bye Hika-boo!" Yuko laughed down the phone and hung up.

 

"We are not going over there!" Hoshi cried, "I'm not doing Kaoru a favour for his mother!" Hoshi huffed.

 

"But you're not, Kaoru never asked you," I pointed out.

 

"Hoshi-woshi, this is mama's business partner, you wouldn't want to disappoint her, especially if she finds out you could have helped the new Hitachiin fashion line!" Yuko smirked mischievously, "Plus, I have never met Mrs Hitachiin so we are all going.""You've never met her before?" I asked, snatching away my phone successfully.

 

"You'd think I would have, but I haven't. For some reason our mum doesn't trust me to meet her."

 

"I wonder why," Hoshi mumbled.

Yuko frowned mockingly and smiled again, "I am going, you are going! What kind of sister would I be letting three young girls go to young men's houses without supervision?"

Hoshi rolled her eyes, "but I'm not going so I don't need supervision."

 

"Come on, let's go!" Yuko grabbed Hoshi before she could refuse any further, and then grabbed Haruhi by the hands and dragged them both outside. I quickly texted Hikaru, apologising for the interruption before grabbing my own drink and Yuko's before leaving behind them. I had gotten out the door to find Hoshi yelling at her sister for making her drop her smoothie. While Haruhi attempted to run away before I stopped her.

 

"Oh no, you are not leaving us alone with her."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Once we had arrived at the twins' house, they gave us a tour of the grounds and the interior, though I had seen most of it anyway as I had been there quite often to study with Hikaru and with my mother to collect designs made for us. Everything felt tense between Hoshi and Kaoru, which was ridiculous seeing as their argument seemed very petty.

 

We were all seated in a lounge area that was before the door leading to their mother's house studio. The footman came in and gave us drinks, a coffee for Yuko and I, tea for Hoshi, and a soda for Haruhi. Though the vibes from Kaoru and Hoshi were incredibly unsettling, they did manage to relax and laugh a little, though still scowling at each other.

 

As the laughter died down we all heard loud clicking footsteps come downstairs and through the hallway, till they stopped at the doorway. "Hikaru, Kaoru, the guests are here?"

 

They nodded and their mother entered. She smiled, and walked into the room like a summer breeze.

 

"Koray, nice to see you again? How is your mother? You must tell her my designs are almost finished."

 

"Sure thing, Yuzuha," I nodded casually and went back to my coffee feeling extremely tired.

 

"And Welcome to my house misses'" She greeted the others.

 

Yuko stood up as fast as you've ever seen her move and flew over to shake their mother's hand. "Hi, I'm Kamiya, Yuko, ma'am, its wonderful to finally meet you!"

 

Hoshi choked on her drink at her sister's sudden change in attitude.

 

"Rai's daughter?" Yuzuha smiled and held out her elegant hand, though she was bewildered by Yuko's enthusiasm. "I've never met you before. I remember meeting your sister briefly a few summers ago..."

Their mother walked past Yuko and her gaze fell on Hoshi.

 

"That's Hoshi, mother," Kaoru pointed out without so much as a smile. He passed his mother a cup of tea and she raised her eyebrow at the sudden rise in tension. She could smell the frustration between them, just like the rest of us. Though her lip curved upward as if she was enjoying it.

 

She nodded and smiled, "Ah yes, Hoshi, I remember. The Olympic runner? How are the trials going?" She then grabbed Hoshi's shoulders and looked at her intensely.

 

"She is really something. You have a great athletic build, darling, you would be very useful."

Hoshi looked dumbfounded, looking at Yuzuha as if she was mad, I guessed she wasn't as friendly with their mother as I was, despite their mother's being business partners. Yuzuha wandered past Hoshi towards Haruhi, who Hikaru introduced as she downed her third ramune soda, having never had them before. Haruhi then glanced at their mother with a crazed look in her eye.

 

"Yes, yes, the boyish look. Very gender neutral, very inspiring, very much on a sugar high, very strange."

Haruhi snapped out of her trance, then offered her hand to shake. "It's an honour to meet you Mrs Hitachiin, you have a huge- I mean lovely home." Hoshi and I snorted with laughter at Haruhi's stupidity.

 

"Please, call me Yuzuha," their mother told her and smiled. "Would anyone like a cookie?"

 

Yuko darted forward and grabbed a cookie from the plate in Yuzuha's hands, thanking her repeatedly before biting into it. Yuko's face flooded red and she spat it out as quickly as possible.

 

"That's SO HOT!" she panted.

 

Yuzuha began to laugh uncontrollably, while her sons rolled their eyes and chuckled. "They're red fire cookies I brought back from England! Oh your face! My darling, I am sorry!"

 

Both Haruhi and Hoshi stared at each other in surprise at Yuzuha's playfulness, which I was used to after coming to their house often when studying with Hikaru and getting clothes with my mother.

 

"She definitely is their mother," Haruhi mumbled.

 

Yuzuha beamed and put her hands on her hips and pointed at Hikaru. "Oh, Kaoru, no, Hikaru, or is it Kaoru?"

 

"I'm Hikaru," he mumbled, rolling his eyes. I forgot completely how Yuzuha mistook who her sons were on purpose, as I discovered when they were away. She had told me how fun it was to mess with them and how it was great to see the distress on their faces when they were younger and she still kept to doing it.

 

"Whichever you are. My son, will you prepare the rack?"

 

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "Which one?"

 

"The  _one_."

 

"Okay?"

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"I didn't realise we were trying on the clothes," Hoshi groaned at the twins whilst Haruhi tripped over in attempt to pose for Yuzuha.

 

"We thought it'd be funnier this way," Hikaru laughed. Kaoru rolled his eyes and smirked.

Yuko was wearing a doll looking dress that was utterly hilarious with frills and everything going off the skirting in crazy directions. I knew this was Yuzuha's idea of a joke because even she was laughing, though trying to compose herself so her trick worked. Yuzuha made Yuko extremely nervous and the complete opposite of her usual character.

 

Hoshi wore a camouflage playsuit, with running leggings underneath. She was called out to pose for Yuzuha. "Hoshi, dear, do you think you may wear something like this to run in?"

 

"If it wasn't so tight," she grumbled.

 

"Then I must design you a running outfit. An Olympic trainer would gain me great publicity! When will be your debut run?"

 

Hoshi mumbled, trying to come up with a fake date before Yuko jumped in, "Oh,it's next spring!"

 

"Lovely! I will get started right away!"

 

Hikaru passed me a clothes bag and told me to get changed behind the curtain. I opened the bag to find a red dress inside, so I put it on over my head. It clung to my chest and torso then fanned out just below the hips and the length was above the knee. Yuzuha came behind the curtain with a black corset belt which she fasted on my waist and it rested on my hips. She then hung ivy leaves in strips around my arms and down the dress till she was happy with what she had done.

 

"How come it was a simple dress to start with and now it's this?" I asked, throwing my arms about as the ivy dangling and danced beneath.

 

"It's what happens in fashion shows. You get a simple design for sale, and make it stupendous for the show! Makes it more exciting, don't you think?"

 

"Of course," I mumbled.

 

We walked out behind the curtain and everyone turned to me. By this time the host club had joined us and Kyoya was scribbling in his black book, whilst Haruhiyelled at Tamaki for attacking her and calling her cute. Mori was getting annoyed at Yuko for harassing him and scaring Hunny-senpai. It was basically a mess till they all turned around.

 

"Woah," they all said at once.

 

I glared at them all. Kaoru nudged Hikaru who gaped at me and blushed slightly. His attention was diverted when Hoshi appeared form behind another curtain wearing another one of Yuzuha'sdesigns, but this one was ridiculous, with bears all over the skirt and then a massive bear head around her upper body, a bear dress.

 

Everyone collapsed into hysterics, tears filled their eyes, and Yuzuha smiled a devious smile.

 

"It's cute, it's stylish and BEARY entertaining!" she called out while snapping many reference photos.

 

Yuko and Hikaru had both taken their phones out to document this beautiful moment. Despite this being the most ridiculous thing I've seen Hoshi do, and she's the clumsiest person you have ever met, I felt bad that she'd have Yuko and Hikaru both taunting her with these pictures, while at the same time being completely embarrassed in front of Kaoru.

 

I ran over and grabbed her by the arm, telling her to run and we burst out of the studio doors faster than I have ever ran before.  


 

** Hoshi **

 

We reached the end of the corridor and turned into what appeared to be an office. As we slammed the door closed behind us and turned around to lean our backs against it, Koray desperately trying to catch her breath whilst I merely surveyed the room, we became aware of someone watching us. Koray poked my arm and gestured towards the corner of the room. I nodded and we both slowly turned around cautiously, backing away slightly at the same time.

 

A man was standing in the corner, slouching slightly, with a fancy looking cocktail in his hand. He smiled lightly when he saw us and took a step forwards. We both backed away quickly, Koray making sure that she was standing in front of me, which I in no way objected to. She was definitely a better fighter than me and my ribs were still recovering.

 

"Woah, woah, don't look so worried! It's me!" He waved the hand not holding the drink around in front of his face and beamed at us expectantly.

 

Koray turned her head slightly to raise her eyebrow in a questioning way. I shook my head to say that I had no idea who he was either. We both looked at him for a few moments, hoping that he'd get the hint and elaborate on who he was.

 

"Ah, you obviously don't recognise me. It happens all the time. I'm Hikaru and Kaoru's father."

 

We both paused, and I don't know about Koray, but I was suddenly remembering seeing this guy with the twins all morning.

 

I stepped forwards past Koray and held out my hand. He grinned when he saw me and reached out to shake it.

 

"It's nice to meet you. My name's Kamiya Hoshi.

 

Koray got the idea and held out her hand as well. "Rikimaru Koray. It's a pleasure to meet you sir."

 

I snorted at Koray's sudden unexpected politeness and she glared at me. There was a knock at the door and Mr Hitachiin quickly crossed the room to open it. Haruhi was standing there looking slightly awkward as she shifted from foot to foot and looked around. She noticed us standing there looking at her and seemed to relax somewhat.

 

"So, this is where you are. Everyone's looking for you, you know?" She wandered past Mr Hitachiin so that she was standing with us.

 

"They can look for us all they want, we ain't leaving this room until we feel like." Koray stuck her nose in the air and gave a pretty good impression of a snooty aristocrat who wasn't getting what they wanted.

I nudged her in the ribs and gave her a small smile. She shrugged and looked away.

 

"Who is that guy anyway?" Haruhi leant forwards to whisper discreetly to us, "Is he a servant, or...?

 

"He's the twin's Dad." I whispered back, sniggering slightly. I could see Koray sniggering as well beside me.

She reached forwards and ruffled Haruhi's hair.

 

Haruhi pulled away and sort of half speed walked, half jogged over to Mr Hitachiin who appeared to be closely examining a crack in the wall and pretending not to listen to us. I could see that he was wearing a bemused smile on his face and was secretly watching us out of the corner of his eyes. Haruhi bowed down in front of him apologising profusely.

 

"It's really not a problem," he held his hands up in front of himself and was obviously trying to suppress a laugh, "Like I told the other two, it happens all the time."

 

"Still, I'm really sorry." She bowed again her face flushed scarlet.

 

"Hmm, I always thought I could use this ability to become a spy." He joked cheerfully.

 

At this point all the colour had drained out of her face and she began stuttering an answer.

 

I exchanged a knowing look with Koray and we both had to turn away from each other to stop ourselves from bursting out laughing. Spotting a desk by the wall behind me, I decided to back up and take a seat. As I was shifting some of the paperwork out of the way so that there was room for me to sit, a document caught my eye. It was printed in plain black ink and at the top of the page was written 'The Zodiac Corporation', in what looked suspiciously like comic sans. That wasn't what had caught my attention though. Obviously. In the top left-hand corner of the page was a small black and white print of a painting. A very familiar looking painting. Glancing up to make sure that nobody was looking at me – Koray had now joined in the conversation with the other two and all three of them looked very serious – pulled my phone out from my sleeve – where I'd stuck it as soon as I'd realised that the dress had no pockets – and discreetly took a photo.

 

"Oi, Hoshi, get over here." Koray was waving me over and I realised I was going to have to forgo sitting down.

 

"What's up?" they all looked very sombre and I already had enough drama to deal with, with Kaoru. I really couldn't be bothered with any more.

 

"You're able to tell them apart as well, aren't you?" Mr Hitachiin was looking at me in curiosity.

 

"Tell who apart?"

 

"My sons."

 

"Oh, right, yep, yes I can." I babbled, hoping that I didn't sound like too much of an idiot.

 

"That's all they want you know? To be individuals. For someone to finally be able to tell them apart. And now there's three of you who can. You don't know how happy that makes me." He wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye.

 

I had  _no_  idea what was going on.

 

"You can stop hiding behind the door now Kaoru." He suddenly called out, taking us all by surprise. A familiar ginger twin stepped out from behind the door and gave his father an appraising look. Honestly, I was just impressed that Mr Hitachiin had been able to tell that it had been Kaoru who was there.

 

"Mum wants you guys back. She needs to finish the fashion show." Kaoru said curtly, purposefully refusing to look at me. He turned quickly and walked back out of the room.

Koray looked like she wanted to say something, but I shook my head. The sooner we left the office, the sooner the show would be over, and the sooner I could go home and research The Zodiac Corporation.

 

"Let's go." I muttered and the other two nodded slowly and trudged out of the room in front of me. I was about to follow when Mr Hitachiin grabbed my arm.

 

"I meant what I said you know. Those boys need someone in their lives who can tell them apart. Kaoru talks about you a lot. I can tell you mean a great deal to him. Don't throw away a good friendship over a petty argument, alright?"

 

"I'll try not to." I forced a smile onto my face, but I couldn't stop fidgeting with my hands. I had a feeling that making up with Kaoru wasn't going to be that simple.


	24. 22 - How Much Drama Can There Be in One Afternoon?

** Hoshi **

 

I wasn't aware of how dramatic things had gotten at the host club until I walked into the music room on the Friday of the first week back after the holidays. I'd only wanted to ask Hikaru if he could help me with my maths homework as I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and was instead almost run down by Hunny, who looked completely terrified. I managed to jump out the way in time and watched as he sprinted along the corridor before slamming his way into the boy's toilets at the end.

 

Cautiously, I peeked around one of the double doors to try and see what could have possibly scared the ninja child so much. I couldn't see anything that looked outright scary, but the other hosts did appear to be on edge. They were all staring at a girl who was sitting on the sofa, sipping at a cup of instant coffee. She was wearing all black and clutched a crumpled piece of paper in her hand.

 

I slowly crept around the room, sticking to the walls as that felt safer, and reached the hosts who were standing by the windows. Tamaki was half hiding behind one of the curtains while the other hosts were cramming themselves into the other curtain, seemingly trying to make themselves seem invisible, but failing miserably. Kyoya looked the calmest, but still appeared to be slightly concerned. I decided that he was probably the best person to ask about the girl though, and so waved my hand in front of his face to get his attention.

 

"Miss Kamiya, would you please refrain from waving your hand so wildly? You're going to hurt someone if you're not careful." He smirked at before very deliberately opening his black book and beginning to write. Git. Still, he would probably give me the most informed answer to my question.

 

"So, uh, who exactly is she anyways?" I asked, pointing at the spooky looking girl sitting with her back to us.

 

He gave me the sort of look a primary school teacher might give to a student who was particularly slow at picking up a maths problem. Eventually he answered, though he made it sound like it was some great effort for him. "Her name is Reiko Kanazuki. She's in class 1-D. She's a member of the black magic club and she –"

 

I held up a hand to stop him. "I wanted to know her name not her entire life story." Kyoya looked annoyed at me having stopped him in the middle of his fact giving but he said nothing of it. "Why's she here anyway?" I decided to ask, guessing it had something to do with Hunny going by the way he'd left the club room.

 

"She was here to see Hunny-senpai. Apparently she wants to curse him with her love so that he'll agree to date her."

 

I smirked to myself. Yes! I was right.

 

"Poor Hunny-senpai. I couldn't imagine how he must feel going through that. Promise Daddy you'll never participate in any black magic. Promise me!" Tamaki had fully emerged from behind the curtain now and was clutching Haruhi's arm, tears pouring down his face.

 

"I promise senpai, now let go!" She grumbled back, attempting to pull her arm free but not being able to shake off his killer grip.

 

Mori was watching the girl closely from his position in front of the twins, but upon hearing Haruhi's protests he reached towards her and picked her up from under her arms. Tamaki wasn't able to keep a hold on her while she was air born, and could only look on sadly as Mori placed her next to me before he went back to watching the girl.

 

I'd never really seen Mori and Hunny apart and I could tell that he was worried about his small friend. He was chewing his lip anxiously – something I'd never expected to see the stoic giant do – and his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white.

 

The twins were peeking out from behind him, and Kaoru looked like he wanted to say something, but Hikaru started speaking first.

 

"You need to speak to her." He said it without emotion or humour that I thought I'd misheard it. But before

 

I could ask again he pushed me so that I stumbled towards the sofa, tripped over it and ended up upside down on the seat next to Reiko.

 

"Good afternoon. I was just wondering if you'd like a refill of coffee?" I held my hand out for, the mug I guess? But Reiko just stared at me unblinkingly.

 

Then suddenly, so suddenly I barely saw it happen, she reached into her bag, pulled out a purple piece of paper and stuck it on my head. "I curse you for your abrupt manner. A year of bad luck may befall you!" And she threw the last cold dregs of coffee in my face.

 

Spluttering, I looked up at her, pushing myself round so that I was sitting properly on the sofa and was no longer upside down. "What the bloody hell did you do that for?!"

 

"I merely used magic to give unto you the inconvenience you just gave me." She stuck her head on the air, but I could see her eyes looking around, taking in the clubroom and trying to ignore my disbelieving face.

I poked her shoulder and forced her to turn and look at me. "So you like Hunny-senpai then?" I asked, trying to make small talk. I don't know why I thought small talk was necessary but I'd asked the question and I was damn well going to get an answer.

 

Reiko blushed and tried to stand up but I grabbed her arm and she flopped back down on the sofa in a very ungainly manner. I had a feeling that if I'd flopped like that I would've got another curse put on me. She was just lucky that I wasn't into magic stuff.

 

"I may have some sort of feelings for him. Yes." She admitted, wringing her hands together as she crossed her legs.

 

"So why exactly did you decide to curse him?" I leant towards her and tried to make my face seem sympathetic.

 

"I didn't know what else to do." She muttered into her hand, suddenly seeming very small, like a kid that had just been told off. 

 

"But you scared Hunny-senpai." I tried to reason with her.

 

"I didn't mean to." She sounded smaller still, "I just wanted him to know my feelings for him, that's all."

 

"Well he definitely knows." I muttered, standing up as I hoped that I'd said enough to this girl that the host club would let me leave.

 

"You think?" I turned around to see her looking up at me, hope shining in her eyes, "Then I'll make sure not to give up!"

 

"That's the spirit!" I began to leave the room when I remembered what why I was in music room #3.

 

"Oi, Hikaru," I called over to the twins.

 

"What?"

 

"Kaoru I'm not talking to you."

 

"I'm Hikaru"

 

"You're bloody well not."

 

"Yeah Kaoru, Hoshi's talking to me." Hikaru sauntered over to me, purposefully avoiding the sofa where Reiko still sat and was now watching us with interest. "So what'd ya want?"

 

"I just need help with some maths homework, that's all."

 

"Alright. If you can wait I'll be free after the club activities end." He smiled at me and I nodded in agreement.

 

"I'M FREE NOW!" Kaoru ran across the room, pushed Hikaru out the way and basically yelled in my face.

 

"Good for you." I responded coldly.

 

"I'll help with your maths. We can go to the library now if you want." He looked at me eagerly, almost jumping up and down on the spot.

 

"Well if you're free now then I guess I am too. Wanna go to any library in particular?" Hikaru pushed Kaoru over and gestured for me to leave first.

 

I started walking when I heard a crash. Looking round I noticed that they were both lying on the floor. Kaoru had grabbed Hikaru's ankle when he started walking.

 

"Ow, Jesus Christ Kaoru. I think you twisted my ankle."

 

"Oh no, what a shame. Guess I'll just have to help Hoshi then." Kaoru stood up, stepped on his brother and pulled me out of the host club.

 

We ended up speed walking through the school until we came across a library. Finding a table at the back Kaoru sat down and gestured for me to do the same. I stood with my arms folded, glaring at him.

 

"What's your deal?" I demanded angrily.

 

"My deal?" He asked, he looked confused and his voice was a slightly higher pitch than usual.

 

"Yeah, genius, your deal. Because for the last couple of weeks we haven't been talking, and at first that was my fault, but to be honest, I got over it. So you're the one who's been causing the problem and now you've decided to tackle your brother to the ground just so you can help me do my homework. What's up with that?" I let out an exasperated sigh and slumped into the chair next to him.

 

He sighed as well and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry."

 

"For what?"

 

"For everything." He leant across the table and grabbed my hand, looking so sad and sincere that I didn't object. "I'm sorry for thinking that you couldn't handle yourself. And not trying to help you when I saw that you were in trouble. I'm sorry that I ignored you and was mean to you when you were at my house." He looked down and I could have sworn he was crying, "What my Dad said was right. I need you in my life. There's never really been anyone other than Hikaru and the host club that I've cared about and I don't want to lose you, ok?"

 

I sat there, completely dumfounded by his apology and honesty.  "I..." I tried to from a sentence but couldn't think of anything to say. Eventually I just went with, "I'm sorry too."

Kaoru coughed and gave my arm a friendly nudge, "So maths homework?"

 

"Maths homework." I reached into my bag and pulled out my textbook and jotter. I flipped to the right page and pointed out the question to him before I delved back into my bag for a pencil and calculator.

 

"Hey, we're doing this as well! Guess the different classes do the same work sometimes, huh?" He smirked as he tapped the book with his finger.

 

"So you know what to do then?"

 

"Nope. I was going to copy from Hikaru."

 

I groaned and slumped back in the seat. "You've got to be kidding me. All that and I still need to ask Hikaru!"

 

"You don't have to ask him. I'll just get the answer from him and tell you." He nodded his head as if that was all decided.

 

"Well-"

 

"So it's agreed then. I'll meet you by the school gates when the club's over and we can go to your house to complete the questions."

 

"My house?"

 

"Of course. You've been to my house so I want to see what yours is like." And he got up and jogged out of the library leaving me sitting at the table, not entirely sure what just happened.

 

Checking my phone I saw that I had half an hour to kill before meeting Kaoru at the gates. Deciding that I might as well get some training done, I stuffed my school stuff back into my bag and trudged off to the athletics field.

 

After getting changed in the fancy Ouran changing rooms - complete with marble benches, 30 private shower rooms and a wall covered in mirrors with lights around the edges – I was ready to start training. Luckily for me the field was empty except for one guy who was doing stretches at the other end. I didn't like training when there were too many people around. They either didn't run fast enough and got in the way if they were fellow runners, or suddenly appeared out of nowhere to walk across the track in front of me if they specialised in any other athletic sports.

 

I began warming up on the start line, planning to sprint some laps to try and up my speed. I was just preparing to start my first lap when I noticed that the guy at the other end of the field was running over.

 

"Hey," he panted, "Wanna race? I could use some competition practice."

 

"Yeah sure, why not?" I stood in the first lane and he took the first one. "Ready, get set, GO!" I yelled and we both took off. It didn't take me long to pull into the lead. By the time we were halfway around the track I was relatively sure that I was at least 5 metres in front. Risking a look behind me, I saw that I was around about right, give or take half a metre. I also noticed that the guy looked sort of... familiar? Noticing that I'd slowed down while I was thinking, I put on another burst of speed and easily won the race, jogging away from the finish line as I jogged away. I'd barely broken a sweat.

 

"You know, I knew you were good, but I didn't think you'd beat me that easily. so how you been Hoshi?"

 

The guy had reached the finish line as well and was sitting on the ground with his head on his knees. His face was bright red, and he sounded like he was struggling for breath.

 

"Do I know you?" I had thought he looked familiar.

 

"We met at the smoothie bar. Tsuneo. You remember me, right?"

 

"Tsuneo... it doesn't ring a- wait, you were the guy with the bitchy girlfriend, right?" I clapped my hands together and gave myself an imaginary pat on the back for remembering.

 

"Yep that's me. I've been meaning to talk to you, so I joined the athletics club. Figured that'd be the best way to get close to you."

 

"Because that's not creepy at all."

 

"I wouldn't have gone to all this effort if it wasn't important, I promise. I actually went to the smoothie bar that day because I'd heard you were gonna be there." His fringe was sticking to his sweaty forehead and he moved a strand of mousey blonde fringe that was near his eye.

 

I backed away, slightly nervous suddenly. "I don't think I want to speak to you, so if you'll excuse me I need to go. My friend will be waiting for me."

 

"No, don't go! I have information for you. Well not information exactly, but I think we're in the same boat."

 

"What are you talking about?" He was starting to really scare me, and I hoped Kaoru would turn up at the school gates soon and see that I needed help. It didn't even have to be him. I just wanted a way out of the situation.

 

"The Zodiac Corporation." That was all he said, but it immediately caught my attention and I felt a bit less scared and more curious.

 

"What exactly do you know about it?"

 

"I know that the main reason for your interest is the logo." He held up a black and white picture that could clearly be made out as being my painting. The dragon and shark in the middle of the canvas looked slightly merged together and not all the zodiac symbols surrounding them could be fully distinguished, but it was definitely the same painting that had hung in my library.

 

"Do you know where my painting is?" I was guessing that the answer was no if he wanted to speak to me, but I wanted to make sure.

 

"No, but I do know something that you might find of interest. What does the name Akio mean to you?"

 

I almost physically recoiled at the name. Yuko's childhood friend and later, fiancé, was the reason for the current state of my family. And Yuko's current state of mind. "I know of him."

 

"Do you know what his last name is?"

 

"What does it matter?" I honestly didn't give a damn about knowing his full name. I knew what he'd done and that was all that I cared about.

 

"So, knowing that his full name is Rikimaru Akio doesn't bother you then?" He asked looking at me thoughtfully.

 

"What?" I whispered, the word barely audible.

 

"Hmm, that's what I thought. You have a friend meeting you soon right? Here's my address. See you two weeks today at about 9ish, yeah?" He crammed a piece of paper into my hand and spoke again before I could get a word in edgeways, "Oh, and you might want to give a certain detective Drakon a call. I heard he found out some interesting information about that family when he was working for you before."

 

I was about to ask how he knew that, but Tsuneo was already heading back to changing rooms. He looked over his shoulder and waved cheerfully at me. Sighing to myself I realised that I should probably get changed as well if I was going to meet Kaoru. I followed Tsuneo and ended up back in the girls' changing rooms. Even when I was back in my school uniform and on my way to the school gates, Tsuneo's words were still ringing in my ears.  _'his full name is Rikimaru Akio'_. What did that mean. Were Jessie and Anzu right all along? Was I being played this entire time? No. that didn't make sense. Koray wouldn't lie to me like that. Not after everything we'd been through. Something else was going on here and I was going to get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, it did look like I was going to need the help of my least favourite American again though.

 

Kaoru was already at the gates when I arrived.

 

"You ready to study? I got the answers." He waved a jotter in front of me and I could see that Hikaru's name was written on the front.

 

I giggled slightly and nudged him with my shoulder. "Thanks for helping."

 

"No problem. Let's go then shall we." He indicated the black limo that was parked beside us and I nodded, deciding that the best way to take my mind off the news that I had just gotten was to spend time with the energetic twin.


	25. 23 - Mates, Dates...And A Headless Bear?

** Koray **

 

It was the beginning of November when strange things started to happen. I hardly saw Hoshi anymore as she trained so much on the track field with her fellow Olympic runner. The twins weren't really on speaking terms at that moment; none of us knew why. When I had asked Hikaru what was wrong, he just dismissed the subject and became distant.

 

On a Friday afternoon, I had started to leave school quickly to avoid Haruhi's pressure to study and the twins baggage so I could just get home to sleep. This was my first weekend since summer that I wasn't working for the mafia, and all I wanted was sleep. Everyone after class usually stuck around near the lockers if they didn't have a club to go to, and the host club wasn't functioning while Tamaki and Kyoya were away in France on the second year's class trip.

 

I had heard fast, thudding footsteps running down the hallway and I sleepily stepped aside next to the window to let them pass. When I looked around to acknowledge them, they had stopped in front of me.

"Kaoru, are you okay?" I asked him as he bent over breathing heavily. Kaoru never came to me this fast unless he wanted something, which he usually did in class or with Hikaru, so this kind of encounter was strange.

 

"Why'd you run out of class?" he panted, clutching his knees. "I need your help with something," and mumbled something about not understanding how Hoshi could run professionally.

I raised my eyebrow at him in confusion.

 

"You know how Hoshi and I are-"

 

"An awkward mess?"

 

"I wouldn't say that," he straightening up, and when I raised my eyebrows at him again he sighed and nodded. "Maybe a bit of a mess."

 

"Yeah, it's confusing all of us." I mumbled, rolling my eyes and flicking my fringe out the way, realising it had grown too long. I really should cut it, or maybe dye my hair, or shave it all off-

 

"You know how Hoshi's been spending a lot of time with that guy from the track team?" he pointed out as I had stopped listening, which he could tell because he got closer and started to tap his foot.

 

"The other professional runner in the school? Yeah, because they train together."

 

"I feel like she's not interested in me anymore. I feel like I'm losing her." He looked to the ground.

 

I cursed at him, "You twins are so needy! If you guys don't get constant attention you feel like the world's against you!" Kaoru looked at me angrily and I knew the reason why that they were so attention seeking was because of how they were brought up. "Look, it may not be your fault but it's true. Though I don't know if she's fully forgiven you yet for that argument you had. Which I have totally no knowledge of, ha haha," he glared at me, "Anyway, I thought you were asking me something, not just a pep talk?"

 

"I do. I need you to do me a favour because I have an idea."

 

That wasn't good. "um..."

 

"Hoshi made a point of how you and I are more alike than her and I, which I told her that it makes her and I better friends-"

 

"In what way?"

 

"We think a lot more in depth than she does, whereas she thinks that people who over-think are stupid. Remember all her remarks about when I was talking philosophy?" I nodded tiredly, hoping he'd hurry up.

 

"So, since she spends a lot of time with  _runner boy_  and we spend time talking about  _stuff_ , then my idea was that you and I go on a date."

 

"Excuse me?" I yelled causing him to put a hand over my mouth.

 

"It will force her to think of things between me and her, if she actually likes me in that way then she'll get jealous, if not, then I'll know not to bother."

 

"This plan is  _stupid_ ," I whispered, my voice muffled by Kaoru's hand, "Why can't you just talk to her like a normal person instead of using some sort of psychological experiment?"

 

"Because she'll get distracted and mad at me and make me feel stupid!"

 

"You are!" I bit his hand so he'd snatch it away so I could speak normally."And she won't do that if you do this?" I yelled in disbelief, "Won't she just get pissy about her closest friends going on a date without telling her?"

 

"It's not a real date though!" he whined.

 

"That's not the point!"

 

"You could try and make Hikaru jealous too."

 

That caught my attention surprisingly, "Why would I want that?"

 

"Koray, it's obvious to all of us but yourselves that you both like each other...a lot," Kaoru stated bluntly, "If you make him jealous then his emotions will push him to tell you how he truly feels and that'll be good for you."

 

"What makes you think I want that?" I hissed, "Has he even told you how he feels?"

 

"Mayyyybeeeee. " I glared at him and he put his hands up in defence, "Koray, it just seems right that you are with someone who makes you feel alive as Hikaru seems to feel with you, by what I've witnessed at least. You told us yourself that you're sacrificing your happiness for the mafia, so having Hikaru in your life will make you happy."

 

"What have I told you about psychoanalysing me-"

 

"Koray, if you won't do it for yourself, do it for me? I'll owe you."

 

"But Hoshi will hate us if she feels that way! She'll hate me more!"

 

"What can I do to convince you to do it?"

 

I groaned, I was about to refuse when thoughts entered my mind. If he owes me then I can use it to my advantage. My mother has always wanted to have computer access with advanced levels, so getting a meeting with their father, a complete computer expert, would be extremely useful in proving myself. Though I have no idea if I actually liked Hikaru, the thought of testing if he cared for me as much as I cared for him entered my mind; everyone would blame that on my mafia upbringing. But Hikaru has never really proved his feelings as much as I have...friendship wise...

People were starting to come through the corridor, pushing us aside to get out of school.

 

"You get my parents a meeting with your father and I'll help you out," I whispered to him and held my hand out to shake.

 

"Any particular reason?"

 

"Mafia related stuff. Business talk  _you're_  not a part of. Get that meeting and I'll do it."

 

"Fine," he gave in and shook my hand before we both snatched our own away. "Also, I thought you should know that Hikaru's mad at me because he thinks that I like you."

 

"Why would he think that?"

 

"Because I told him, kinda needed to make the date believable," he laughed, scratching the back of his head.

 

"BEFORE I HAD EVEN AGREED?!" I yelled at him, hitting him over the head with my folder.

 

Kaoru laughed sheepishly, and grabbed his head in pain. "I need this plan to work. For Hikaru's sake." He then saw, Haruhi and Hikaru turning the corner towards us and said out loud for them to hear, "Koray, will you be my date to the commoner's fair tomorrow?"

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

When I met Kaoru outside the fair at 1pm he complained at me for being late. Apparently he had stood there for a long time. I apologised and blamed it on sleep deprivation and scowled at him. He started to then tell me the plan. "Right, so Hikaru yelled at me last night about this so he is  _mad_. So mad that he's staying at Mori-senpai's house."

 

"I knew this was a terrible plan," I mumbled.

 

"Yeah, well, I went to Hunny-senpai's to ask his advice-"

 

"Instead of  _telling_  me?!"

 

"To get  _information_  from Mori. Hunny-senpai persuaded Hikaru to follow us to the fair so I guess we'll see him at some point."

 

"Right, but wasn't this plan for you and Hoshi?"

 

"Yeah, I'm positive that if Hikaru was mad then he told Hoshi and would make her come out with him because he's like that," when I raised my eyebrow, uncertain he was just doing this for his brother's sake, he yelled, "I know my own brother, okay?"

 

"How are you so sure that they will? What if you're just tricking me to go on a normal date with you?"

"I don't like you  _that_  much, Koray. I can't put up with you for that long, even at a fair," he deadpanned.

 

"Hey!" I hit him over the head with my hand, "you're pretty intolerable too!"

 

He held his head for protection before holding me by the wrists telling me to shush. "I saw the them watching me, like, half an hour ago by the ice cream stand. I'm not sure where they are now though."

 

"Seriously?" I face-palmed, " _Idiots_..."

 

Kaoru then held out his hand, "Shall we start this date?"

 

I rolled my eyes and took his hand reluctantly, "We already got  _this_  far."

 

So, the 'date' started with going on a bunch of rides, mostly because I was extremely tired and grumpy and Kaoru just wanted me to let go with some good old fashioned adrenaline. And after my hyperactive run around the fair, completely destroying the water gun shooting stand, winning all the stuffed animals, and being forced to give them all back except one (Kaoru chose the large black panther for me), we decided that we'd have to act all couple-y.

 

"Right, what do we do now?" I asked, tilting my head and holding the huge stuffed panther close.

 

Kaoru rolled his eyes and looked around. "Share food?" I raised my eyebrow in confusion, at the sheer idea of actually sharing my food with someone else. "That's what couples do, right? At least that what Hunny-senpai thought Haruhi and Hikaru should've done when I set them up on that date."

 

"Yeah, and remember how  _that_  turned out," I scoffed.

 

"That was different," He grumbled, "It was! It's better controlling the situation while being in it rather than causing it and doing nothing but watching from the side."

 

"You really scare me sometimes," I mumbled with my face in the panther's fur.

 

Kaoru looked at me as if I was wearing a bear costume, " _I_  scare  _you_? In whatway?!"

 

I chuckled and shook my head with my eyebrow raised. I lowered the panther as we slowly walked through the busy fair.

 

"Well, you're constantly trying to take over other people's lives," I sighed and nudged him, "Like Hikaru has his own beliefs on what he thinks people should do and say. But you, you actually create situations, put people in them after determining how they'll act and then blaming them when it doesn't go the way you planned," I chuckled, "You express your anger differently to Hikaru but it's still the same, you get quiet and distant."

 

"You really think that?" he asked, his eyes wide with disbelief, as if he never knew this.

 

"I do, I really think you should stop trying to control people all the time and give them a gentle push towards what you think they should do. Rather than forcing them into it."

 

"You're not perfect either," he mumbled, "you yell at people for not being how you think they should be, trying to make people act differently."

 

"Well yeah, I admit I'm a bit controlling but I'm doing my best to change that." Kaoru kicked his toes into the dirt beneath us grumpily and I cursed out loud at his stubbornness. The twins' egos were as bad as each other sometimes. I grabbed his hand and smiled at how he turned to me in confusion, "Lead the way to the food, because we look miserable not datable."

 

Kaoru smirked back and lead me to a waffle stand. While waiting in line a sudden thought popped into my head.

 

"Kaoru?" I asked.

 

"Hmm?"

 

"I just wanted to ask, do you ever cringe at the stuff you say?" He looked at me incredibly confused and offended, "I mean like, one time ages ago I heard you doing your act with Hikaru and you say shit like 'punishment games' and 'toying with my-' blehhhh, ew, I can't even finish the sentence."

 

"Well to start off with it was pretty weird, but the boss helped us come up with ideas and soon enough we came up with our own ideas," he sighed when I raised my eyebrow.

 

"You didn't answer my question."

 

"It makes me cringe but I mean, we do it for fun so there's no point over-thinking it."

 

I stared at him for a moment, completely dumbstruck at this weird concept. The twins were just weird.

We reached the front of the line where we got a giant waffle to share and I had to admit that I went overboard on the whipped cream and sprinkles, but in the end it was amazing.

 

As we had fun messing around, throwing the leftover whipped cream at each other, mocking  _couple-y-ness_ , Kaoru wiped the whipped cream off my face. As we got closer only to sense that Hikaru and Hoshi were watching very close by.

 

As soon as we got too close for comfort, we heard a crash and everyone in the area turned to the source of the loud noise. A small tent had collapsed to the ground; the tent where the people who dressed as large animals got changed. There was a lump moving around under the tent sheet and moments later, Hoshi emerged from underneath it, stumbling up with a giant bear head attached to her foot. She quickly ran, her bear-head clad foot thudding against the ground with a squeak towards the waffle van, where we saw Hikaru grab and pull her behind it angrily.

 

Kaoru was almost in tears of laughter trying to compose himself so he didn't blow their cover. We slowly walked past the waffle van where we heard Hoshi ask Hikaru, "you think they noticed?"

 

"Nah,  _look_ , they're walking past now. I think they were too  _busy_  with the  _cream fight_." He sounded very glum and annoyed.

 

As soon as we got away, we burst into tears of laughter for ten minutes straight before managing to get any conversation out of ourselves. "What-" Kaoru squeaked with a hiccup, "now?"

 

I looked around, drying tears from my eyes, knowing I had ruined my make-up. "Ghost-train, let's go and see if they follow." So then I took him by the hand, panther in my other and dragged him to the ride, where we sat down with the panther in between us. Sure enough, Hikaru and Hoshi had followed.

 

 

** Hoshi **

 

Making sure that we got on the ghost train at the same time as Koray and Kaoru turned out to be a bit more difficult than I'd expected. By the time we'd reached the ride they were already seated and there was a queue trailing away through velvet cords that formed the queue barriers. We quickly joined the end and began to anxiously peek out from behind the family standing in front of us. I was trying to count the amount of people who were waiting in front of us when Hikaru suddenly grabbed my arm and yanked me down behind the mother of the bumbling family.

  
"What'd you do that for?" I whispered angrily at him, massaging my arm which felt like it had been pulled from the socket.

 

"They were looking our way." He whispered back, attempting to sneakily look around the lady we were taking refuge behind to see if they were still looking in our direction.

 

"Do you think they saw us?" I leaned around as well to try and catch a glimpse them. Luckily for us, the lady wasn't exactly on the skinny side and we were very easily hidden behind her. The line moved forwards and we had to sort of half crawl, half walk to keep up with it.

 

"Nah, I think we were quick enough hiding." He grinned back.

 

The train continued to fill and soon we were at the front of the line. But just as we were about to get on, the guy controlling the train stopped us.

 

"But there are still two seats left!" Hikaru said angrily, trying not to raise his voice so as not to attract attention.

 

"Look kid, there have to be two empty seats on every train. Health and safety regulations, you know?" He drawled at us looking bored.

 

"But why?" Hikaru answered back furiously.

 

"Look, we really need to be on that train." I put in.

 

"I don't make the rules. There's nothing I can do." He replied grumpily, walking away to push some buttons or whatever the operator guy did in the operating house thingy.

 

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Hikaru hissed at me, eyes locked on the two spare seats.

 

"Definitely."

 

We watched the operator until we were sure that he was focusing more on the buttons than on us, before we rushed forwards and claimed the empty seats. Ducking down, we made sure that he definitely couldn't see us and knew that when the train jolted suddenly, and we began moving off into the dark. The people who had been behind us in the line complained loudly, but it didn't matter. We'd done it.

 

Turning to each other we both grinned, our faces illuminated by the occasional neon lights that lit the tunnel. Raising our hands, we high-fived in victory. Now all we had to do was get to the front of the train where Koray and Kaoru were sitting. Easier said than done.

 

The train was travelling relatively slowly, so I decided to test how safe it would be to stand up. I shakily got myself to a crouch position on the seat before pushing up into a standing position. The good news was that it was possible to stand up safely on while the train was moving and not get thrown off. The bad news was that I'd picked the wrong time to test whether the safety of standing and had got my head caught in a fake spider's web.

 

Flailing madly only made the situation worse and soon I was being pulled out of the carriage and was panicking quite a lot. Hikaru grabbed my legs and pulled me back down into the seat. A sudden lurch accompanied by the sounds of screams told us that something scary was happening near the front of the train. We didn't really pay much attention to that however as the sudden lurch had sent me flying forwards, and because I wasn't sitting properly, I flew and landed on the lap of the man sitting in front of me. Noticing that Hikaru was still holding onto my legs, I looked to my side and saw that Hikaru was dragged over the seat with me and was now sitting on the lap of the man I was sitting on's girlfriend.

"What do ya think ye'r doing?" the man leered at Hikaru, seeming to ignore me which I was grateful for as the man was terrifying. His bald head was shining in the artificial lighting of the tunnel.

 

"I'm, just, er, wooooo!" Hikaru suddenly held his hand up and began waving them above his head, "I'm the ghost of the late Sir Mortima de Pimsy Mimsy."

 

"Sir Mortima de Pimsy Mimsy?" The man asked, looking a lot less angry and a lot more confused.

 

"Yeah, it's British." I added helpfully, "I mean, woooooo." And I too began waving my hands in the air.

 

"And she's the ghost of the late lady Geraldine Meraldine." Hikaru improvised, looking panicked at his terrible naming skills.

 

"And we died on this very ghost train two years ago!" I put in.

 

"Ya don't really look lie British aristocracy, more lie school kids. School kids who are sitting on me and ma girlfriend."

 

"We're very young aristocracy. We were here on a date when the worst fate could befall us." I told him, trying to keep my expression sombre.

 

"Let them speak Saburo. It's fun." The girl Hikaru was sitting on spoke up, glaring at her boyfriend.

 

"But they're obviously not actors! This ones wearing jeans!" Suburo pointed at my legs.

 

"Bloody hell, you never heard of a budget?" I fumed back.

 

"Well, we should be going. It's been nice meeting you. Woooooo!" Hikaru grabbed my arm and pulled me unceremoniously into the next carriage.

 

We didn't stop to talk to the next people we landed on and instead just muttered 'wooo' as we climbed over the seats, finally progressing to the front of the ride. We had just got to the seat behind Koray and Kaoru, who were laughing together and pointing at the fake looking zombie on the wall beside the exit, when everything burst into light and we were back where we began. The operator guy didn't look happy.

We tried to hurry away, but the people we were sitting on made a bit of a fuss. They made so much of a fuss that Koray and Kaoru turned around. We quickly grabbed the hats off the people we were sitting on's heads and used them to cover our faces. When we were sure that they'd left, we handed the hats back, muttered out apologies and quickly rushed after them, ducking behind the crowd so as not to be noticed by the operating guy.

 

We were sure we were in the all clear when we reached the burger stand, and slumped down onto the benches. We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes, each of us lost in our own thoughts, before we made eye contact with each other and just burst out laughing. We couldn't stop for about ten minutes, and during that time I fell off the bench which just made us both laugh even more. After we'd finally calmed down, we bought burgers and drinks and surveyed the area.

 

"I think that's them." I nudged Hikaru and pointed them out to him.

 

"What? By the goldfish stand?" He craned his neck, trying to see where I was pointing.

 

"Yeah, that's them, right?"

 

"I thimf smo." Hikaru was stuffing the rest of his burger into his mouth. "Wanna go catch a goldfish with me?" he wiggled his eyebrows and I couldn't help but laugh.

 

"I'd love to."

 

We dumped our rubbish in the bin and found a place around the goldfish pool. Hikaru had handed me a scarf from out of his bag before taking one of his own, and we'd fashioned them into balaclava like things to cover our faces so we wouldn't be recognised. I was pretty sure it was working, although we had got a few strange looks from the other people at the pool. Kaoru in particular was giving us a very strange look, but Koray pinched his cheek, distracting him, and soon they were both fishing again.

I took a paddle from the store owner and focused my attention on the fish swimming below me. I liked goldfish and actually wanted to win one. A bluish one caught my eye and I immediately went in for the catch. Swearing loudly when I missed earned me reproachful looks from the mums who were there. I apologised absently, still focusing on the fish so that I wouldn't lose sight of it. Before I could have another attempt however, another paddle had gone for the same fish, missed and upset all the other fish in the small pool. Hikaru looked at me sheepishly.

 

"You wanted that one, right?"

 

"I still want it, yes." I answered scanning the pool to try and find it again.

 

"Are you actually trying to find that particular fish? What a waste of time." Hikaru sighed, leaning back on his heels.

 

"THERE!"

 

"WHERE?"

 

We immediately formed a sort of attack formation as we began to attempt to catch the fish. Hikaru got his paddle in front of the fish and shepherded it towards where I had my paddle lying in wait just under the surface of the water. It took a few tries, but finally we were victorious. Whooping in victory we transferred the fish into the bag we'd been given and gave each other I a congratulatory hug. I pulled away first so that I could admire our prize. I hadn't noticed how quiet Hikaru had gotten until he stood up abruptly, the scarf falling off his face in his haste. Figuring it had something to do with Koray and Kaoru I looked over at them. My blood ran cold. Seeing two of your best friends kiss while they're on a date shouldn't hurt as much as it did. Kaoru had his arms around Koray's waist and she didn't seem to be making any sort of effort to pull away.  _'Rikimaru Akio'_. Maybe she was more like her manipulative brother than I thought.

 

Hikaru turned around and ran away. I could hear people complaining as he pushed them aside. I hastily picked up his discarded scarf before standing up and attempting to follow him. I couldn't run as I had the goldfish in its bag and I felt that it wouldn't appreciate that bag having an inbuilt wave pool. This meant that my progress through the fairground was slow and by the time I'd reached the gates Hikaru had gone, along with the limo we'd arrived in.


	26. 24 - Confrontations

** Third Person **

 

Hikaru had fled home after witnessing Kaoru's kiss with Koray. He had left Hoshi behind in his rage and sadness he had ran straight back to Mori's house. Mori opened the door wearing a cooking apron with Piyo-chan, the baby chick, sitting on his shoulder. He was surprised to see Hikaru returning to his house, as he thought that sending Hikaru to the fair to see Kaoru would help them to make up.

Mori welcomed Hikaru into the meditation room which Hikaru had used the night before. Hikaru sat there with Piyo-chan watching. The room was dark. Piyo-chan's small beady black eyes moved as Hikaru paced, following him with its gaze before Hikaru stopped and collapsed to his knees, grabbing his hair in his hands as if he were in pain.

 

His head, full of thoughts racing wildly, too many feelings to even comprehend. What did they all mean? He remained in that position for half an hour, sobbing loudly till he sat there, looking into the darkest side of the room. Piyo-chan cheeped softly, trying to sleep.

 

The door opened to reveal his twin, with Mori-senpai behind him who then left after opening the door.

 

"Hikaru-"Kaoru started.

 

"What did you come for?" Hikaru scowled at his brother.

Kaoru walked forward towards Hikaru, "To make up with you..."

 

"S...Stop joking! What can you possibly say now?!" Hikaru yelled from his place on the floor, not meeting his brother's eyes.

 

Kaoru lunged forward in front of his brother, sitting before him, before laying a kiss on his brother's cheek.

 

"I'll share it with you," he laughed, in reference to his kiss with Koray. "In commemoration of my unrequited love. Hikaru, I had an honourable defeat in seducing Koray. Well, to be honest. I never had a chance in seducing her anyways." Kaoru let out a small chuckle afterwards.

 

Hikaru looked at his brother, completely appalled, "What are you talking about?"

 

"My date with Koray was just a ploy. I wanted to make Hoshi jealous," Kaoru stated with a smile, hoping his brother would see the sense in his plan.

 

"You pretended all along...? I was thinking of your feelings...that's why I never stopped you!" Hikaru stood up, yelling at his brother. "DON'T KID WITH ME, Kaoru!! DID YOU THINK I WOULD BE HAPPY IF YOU DID THIS?! BESIDES, THINK ABOUT HOSHI, NO, THINK ABOUT KORAY!! HOW WILL SHE FEEL WHEN SHE FINDS OUT THAT YOU WEREN'T INTERESTED AT ALL?! YOU DON'T ABUSE AND USE PEOPLE FOR YOUR OWN CONVENIENCE!!"

 

Kaoru's eyes were wide in shock, his mouth gaped open, unable to form words. He gulped. "I never thought you'd be this-"

 

"No, Kaoru, you thought too much...like always," Hikaru grumble, turning away.

 

"Hikaru," Kaoru turned his brother to face him, "Koray won't be upset because she knew my plan."

 

"What do you-"

 

"She wanted a meeting between her parents and our father, knowing that it'd be better if I asked him and not her. That's why she agreed to it."

 

"So, she knew?!" Hikaru yelled, his eyes wider than before.

 

Kaoru waved his hands in the air, "yeah, but it was all my plan, all my idea."

 

"You still did this to exploit Hoshi..."

 

"Only to know if she felt the same way I do."

 

"Then why didn't you ask her?!" Hikaru tutted with spite, "Shit, Kaoru, I know we always play games with people but this is too much. This has gone too far for just one person's feelings!"

 

Kaoru sighed, "I did it for you too, Hikaru." Hikaru raised his eyebrow with rage and confusion. "Oh come off it, Hikaru. You have feelings for Koray but you can't admit it!"

 

"How do you-"

 

"Because we're twins, Hikaru! I know you better than yourself! And when you defend her, and talk about her and stand with her, I can see light in your eyes! I know she makes you happy!"

 

"So what-"

 

Kaoru deadpanned. He grabbed his brother by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "Hikaru, do you have feelings for Koray?" Hikaru's eyes widened. "Hikaru. Tell me that when you saw me kiss Koray, you felt sick, your heart dropped and you felt angry."

 

"I did."

 

"Tell me that when you came back here, you sat on that floor, and yelled at yourself for being so blind."

 

"I wouldn't put it that-" Kaoru raised his eyebrows at his brother. "Okay, a bit."

 

"You have feelings for Koray."

 

"I have feelings for Koray," Hikaru repeated. His eyes looked to the ground as his brother hugged him.

 

"That's all I wanted from this; to help you realise your feelings for her. Also to find out if Hoshi feels the same way."

 

"She seemed pretty shocked when she saw you and Koray together," Hikaru admitted, "Kaoru, promise me you will never manipulate people into a plan for your own personal gain again."

 

"Okay, I promise, Hikaru," Kaoru smiled, knowing his brother had forgiven him. "Now you need to find Hoshi and apologise."

 

Kaoru nodded, "And you need to find Koray and tell her what you know."

 

The brothers hugged before they stood up, Hikaru then picked up Piyo-chan. Kaoru lead his brother out the door by the hand. When stepping out, they noticed Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai first. Hikaru placed Piyo-chan in Mori's hands before Kaoru began to speak.

 

"Well, Mori Senpai, Hunny-senpai, I apologise for all the trouble we caused," Kaoru admitted, "You too Hikaru, thank them."

 

"It's okay, Kao-chan and Hika-chan," Hunny beamed, happy the brothers seemed like normal again.

Hikaru bowed and smiled before he noticed Koray standing there, looking at the floor, trying not to make eye contact.

 

Kaoru noticed that Yuko-senpai, had attached herself to Mori's arm, but she hadn't been there before, which meant her sister was not far behind. He noticed her about to leave before Hikaru walked over to her and whispered in her ear. Hoshi then strode over, grabbed Kaoru by the arm, dragging him back into the meditation room and slamming the door closed.

 

 

** Koray **

 

~~~~~~~~~An hour before~~~~~~~

 

I sat in the same bar I had gone to the night my brother, Akio, had died. I ordered a drink from Ryou and debated whether or not to drink myself into a coma.

 

"You haven't been here for a year, Koray," he told me as he refilled my glass only halfway, "I'm worried about you."

 

"Don't be," I muttered, "I'm fine."

 

I could not stop thinking about the kiss with Kaoru. It was definitely not my first yet, something had been there, but I doubt it was actually towards Kaoru. I ran my hands through my hair in anger.

Ryou raised his eyebrow at me. "You're troubled, Koray," he pointed out, "spit it out."

 

He was almost like a second brother sometimes, always so helpful to Akio and I. But he was far from our relation, dark hair and dark eyes, he fit right into the shadows and was aware of everything. He was a good guy.

 

"Just some stupid guy," I sighed and ended up telling him the whole story.

 

"Koray, you may have made the dumbest move you have ever made, and you make a lot sometimes," I slapped his arm and scowled. "The guy obviously likes you a lot more than you think, and by kissing Kaoru, you've just ruined everything."

 

"You really think so?" I sulked.

 

"Talk to him," he told me.

 

"But-"

 

"Talk. To. Him."

 

Just as I picked up my phone to call Hikaru, I noticed two texts;

 

One from Kaoru telling me he had gone to speak with Hikaru though he had been told by Mori that Hikaru was very angry. And one from Mori, which told me to get to his house. An odd request from a guy I didn't know too well. I guessed it was about Hikaru, as Hikaru had stayed there last night.

 

When I asked him why I should go, he texted back with, 'We need your help' which is strange, because we meant as in he and someone else. What could I possibly be needed for?

 

I downed a coffee and Ryou helped me sober up before I left on my brother's motorbike. I had searched for directions on my phone to Mori's house and found it relatively quickly...I got lost twice yet managed to remain sober while driving.

 

When I got to Mori's residence, I parked the bike up against their wall and wandered up past the family dojo towards their mansion which was on a slight incline compared to the rest of his estate. I knocked on the dark wooden front door and surprisingly Yuko opened the front door.

She stood there and folded her arms and leant against the door frame. "What are you doing here?" she glared as if I was the worst person in the world.

 

I rolled my eyes tiredly, "I was asked to... 'help'."

 

Yuko was about to close the door with a smirk before Mori pushed past her and let me in. I heard him say to her quietly, "I know you're sister's hurt but cut it out." Which was weirdly unlike Mori-senpai to say so much to her.

 

Yuko rolled her eyes and smiled at him innocently and turned to me, "you smell like a bar." Then she wandered off down the corridor.

 

Mori shrugged and lead me down the same corridor and we entered a room with some chairs, where Yuko sat down on a chair next to where Mori stood. Hunny-senpai sat on the edge of a chair, dangling his legs, holding Usa-chan close, looking extremely worried. I saw Hoshi sit next to the window, looking out into the dark night, unwilling to look at me as I entered the room with thudding footsteps from boots on a wooden floor.

 

There was a large yell coming from the room beside us. "Jesus Christ," I mumbled, "who's getting murdered?"

 

"Hika-chan and Kao-chan are fighting again," Hunny sniffed.

 

"Oh," was all I could reply.

 

Mori and Hunny exchanged glances, and then looked at the distant Hoshi but then whipped their heads round to an opening door. Both twins stepped out. Hikaru held a baby chick that I knew to be Mori-senpai's pet.

 

"Well, Mori Senpai, Hunny-senpai, I apologise for all the trouble we caused," Kaoru admitted while holding

 

Hikaru's hand, "You too Hikaru, thank them."

 

"It's okay, Kao-chan and Hika-chan," Hunny beamed and then looked at Hoshi and i.

Hikaru bowed to Mori, thanking him and then looked at me, noticing I was in the room. I looked at the floor, obviously avoiding his gaze.

 

Kaoru looked at Yuko, before looking round the room, he looked at me and then looked at Hoshi. His face fell, as if he finally saw the mess he had created. Hoshi seemed to wake up from her trance and scanned the room before she noticed I was here, as well as Kaoru and she began to get up and walk past us. But Hikaru stopped her, and whispered in her ear, before Hoshi grabbed Kaoru's arm and dragged him into the room the twins had previously been in. The door then slammed closed.

 

Mori looked at Hikaru and then looked at me. He then sighed and offered his hand to Yuko who looked bewildered and took it. "Let's go have some tea," he mumbled to her and Hunny and they left towards the direction of his dining room.

 

Hikaru then got on the ground, finding that tying his shoelace was far more important than looking at me. I swayed on my seat, feeling dizzy from having driving so quickly after being slightly tipsy.

 

Hikaru then got up and sat across from me, but held a cushion and started to pick at its fibres. I looked at him confused, as if staring at him for long enough would telepathically make him talk to me.

 

After 5 minutes of failing with telepathy, I coughed to get his attention. His hazel eyes bore into me like fire, and I felt instantly like I was burning. "I-I'm sorry," I admitted, cutting through the dense atmosphere like a knife. The silence had been deafening. "I don't know why I agreed to Kaoru's stupid plan." I looked down at the floor.

 

"To be like your mother, I guess," Hikaru told me, looking me in the eye, causing me to look down again.

 

"What?" I asked the floor.

 

"Kaoru told me you did this to get your parents a meeting with my father, like your mother has an affair with Kyoya's father for safety."

 

"It's not the same-"

 

"Isn't it, Koray?" He asked me, throwing the cushion aside, "Did you honestly want to go on that date with him for fun as well as for your parents?"

 

"That's not the point-"

 

"Tell me the truth, Koray."

 

"I don't know the truth, Hikaru!" I yelled back at him, jumping up from my chair, causing myself to jump in fright. I held my head in my hand trying to calm myself down, thoughts running wild, I was truly a mess.

 

"What do you mean by that?!" he yelled back at me, standing up as if challenging me.

 

"I mean that I have no idea why I did what I did?" I sighed, backing away, my hands covering my eyes. I felt like I was going to cry, which was so strange because the situation was hardly close to what would usually make me cry.

 

"Kaoru thinks he knows why, though he says that you doubt it," he took a step closer to me, "He says- he thinks that-."

 

"Let me guess," I rubbed my face with a sigh and then looked Hikaru in the eyes, which looked so concerned and worried. "He thinks that I probably have feelings for you?"

 

"He never said that."

 

"He probably implied it though," I grumbled.

 

"Koray," he held me by my arms which took me by surprise, making me blush slightly. "He never said anything about you except the reason why you agreed to his plan."

 

"Then why are you still talking to me now?" I scowled, "If there's nothing more he said about me, then there's nothing more I need to explain."

 

"Goddammit, Koray, I'm trying to tell you that he thinks that I have feelings for you!" he yelled at my face.

 

My eyes widened. "And you know what Koray? I think actually do."

 

"Do what?" I mumbled, staring into his eyes, knowing what the answer would be, as if I could actually read his mind. My brain automatically applauding itself for thinking it's being telepathic when I knew it was my head hoping for the best.

 

"I think I have feelings for you, Koray," he almost whispered, his voice like a cats purr, though it sounded nervous as hell, it was as if those words cancelled out the nervousness. He held me closer. "I've fallen for you."

 

His eyes were captivating. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and they are right, because I felt as if our souls had just grabbed hold of each other.

 

I stuttered unable to form a physical sentence. I was so tired of my mind yelling at me to run from that place and never look back, to hidemy feelings in a box in the wood and run for the hills. So what I did next was even crazier than riding my motorbike to Mori's house almost drunk (I lied about sobering up, it didn't work, don't drink and drive kids).

 

I went on my tiptoes, and pushed my hand through his ginger hair. Ipulled him close, and kissed him lightly. He was shocked at first till he realised what was going on. He then relaxed into it before we parted. He rested his head on mine and held me close, looking into my eyes.

 

"Don't go out drinking again," he whispered, "Please take care of yourself."

 

"I don't think I'm capable of taking care of myself anymore," I sighed and looked at the ground before looking back into his eyes.

 

"Maybe that can be my job," he whispered. He smiled and kissed me hesitantly. Till my phone rang so loudly, causing us both to jump a mile and I started scrabbling to get my phone once he helped me up.

 

My father was on the other line. "Koray, you need to get home right away."

 

"What do you-"

 

"Right away, Koray," he commanded, with almost a hint of dread in his voice "Your mother is pissed."

 

He hung up the phone leaving me to stare at it for a while.

 

"Is everything alright?" Hikaru asked, walking closer to me.

 

"I n-need to go," I told him, picking up my jacket, almost tripping over air.

 

"You can't ride back in this state!" he demanded.

 

"I have to, my father asked me."

 

"Surely he'll understand-"

 

"My mother's pissed," my face fell, knowing my family ruined, once again, what little happiness I found. I started to leave, taking the motorbike keys out of my jacket pocket. "I'll see you at school, okay?" And before he could protest, I let myself out of Mori's house, and rode off into the night.

 

 

** Hoshi **

 

"Confrontations, and celebrations! When you found out Koaru's in love with Koray! Confrontations, and celebrations! My sister looks like she wants to hurt me!" Yuko dodged away from my punch as she finished the last line of her song.

 

"You're really not making me feel any better." I grumbled, kicking at the pavement, "I'm not even sure why you're here."

 

"To support my little sister in her time of need, obviously." Yuko wrapped her arm around my shoulders and poked my cheek, "Plus, didn't you say that you were going to little Mori's house?"

 

"Your obsession with Mori-senpai is beyond creepy." Especially when you consider that you used to be engaged to Koray's brother. I didn't say the last bit outloud. Obviously.

 

"I just love me a man who can fight is all!" She removed her arm from my shoulders and began skipping along the pavement, thankfully not slowing down to wait for me, and I eventually got a minute to myself.

What did I think about Kaoru and Koray being together? I wasn't happy about it, I knew that much. But why? Did I actually like Kaoru? As more than just a friend? Well now really wasn't the time to be figuring that out. Thinking back, was it possible that Kaoru had liked me before? It would definitely explain a lot. Which would mean that I'd pushed him away. Without even realising it. Shit. That was definitely something that would happen to me.

 

I yelled out angrily, punching the wall beside me. Big mistake. Now I was angry, and my knuckles were bleeding. I'd only just had the all-clear from my ribs – although that hadn't stopped me from training before I got it – and I was already injured again. Granted, a few grazes on my hand weren't that big of an issue. But it still hurt!

 

Yuko had obviously heard my distress as she appeared from round the corner with an actual look of concern on her face.

 

"you alright little sis?"

 

"YES" I didn't want to have a heart to heart with Yuko. That would just make me feel even worse. Especially on top of everything else. But the way she was looking at me, it was almost like she was genuinely worried about me. And my hand really hurt. "No." I sniffled.

 

"Aww, sweetie. Here, have a hug from your loving big sister." She enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug, but I didn't really mind. It was comforting. We hadn't acted like sisters for so long. "It's gonna be ok Hoshi-woshi, trust me."

 

"Mmm," I mumbled into her shoulder.

 

"So," Yuko pushed me away, but continued to hold onto my shoulders, "We're gonna go in there and kick butt, alright!" She punched the air and grinned at me.

 

"I don't think we'll be kicking anyone's butt, but yeah! Let's do this!" I too punched the air and grinned back at my sister. To anyone else on the street we must have looked like mad people.

Still grinning we joined arms and skipped the rest of the way to Mori's house. Well, Yuko skipped. I kind of got dragged along, feeling that this wasn't a good idea. As we reached the front door, I began feeling incredibly sick and rammed my feet into the ground, pulling us both to a stop.

 

"Huh?" Yuko looked at with her eyebrows raised.

 

"I can't do this. Please don't make me go in there." Tears were rolling down my face and I attempted to wipe them away, embarrassed at how pathetic I seemed.

 

"Ok." Yuko nodded, "I'll go in first and you follow when you feel better." She gave me a pat on the head and disappeared through the door in front of us, not bothering to wait for a maid to show her the way.

I took a deep breath and tried to control my racing heartbeat. The tears were starting to stop, but I still didn't feel quite right. There was a tall, fancy looking fence beside me, and I leant against it, focusing on keeping my breathing slow and steady. My heart was still beating so fast that it was starting to become painful, and soon the only thing I could do was slide down the fence and sit with my head resting on my knees for a few minutes.  _It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok._  I kept telling myself that until I finally felt that I could stand.

 

The door looked huge and foreboding, but I refused to walk away. Following my sister's lead, I pushed open the door and purposefully walked into the house without waiting for a maid.

 

The house was less of a maze than I thought it'd be. I found the main room quickly, and found the twins, Mori and Hunny standing there. Yuko had apparently gone back to let someone in, but hadn't taken the same route as I was taking in, so we hadn't met on the corridor. She was now strolling across the room towards the others. When she reached them, she grabbed hold on Mori's arm and all but attached herself to his arm before turning to give me a wink. This made me feel slightly better. Slightly.

 

I moved to sit by the window, and was aware that koray had entered the room as well. I refused to look at her though. She was apart of this too. Even if I wasn't entirely sure what this was.

 

I knew that this wasn't a good idea. I wasn't even sure why I was here or what I was going to do. Reflecting on all this, I was just about to turn around and leave when I saw that Hikaru was crossing the room to speak to me. I gave him a questioning look, but he simply leant forwards and whispered in my ear – "It wasn't a real date." He then smiled at me and gave me a small push forwards.

I strode across the room, grabbed Kaoru by the arm, and pulled him into the meditation room. I closed the door behind us, before realising that I had no idea what to say.

 

"Errr, sooo, it wasn't a real date?" I asked, shifting from foot to foot.

 

"Nope."

 

"Sooo, you don't like Koray?" I felt my face flushing red and avoided making eye contact.

 

"Only as a friend."

 

"So, why pretend?" I finally looked up and saw that he was now the one looking at the ground. "Kaoru?"

 

"Because-" He coughed, "Because of you."

 

"What?" I was sure I must not have heard that right.

 

"Because I was jealous of you and that sport guy, so I guess I thought I could get your attention that way."

 

"Sport guy- wait, do you meet Tsuneo?" I asked him, shocked that he could think that there was something between us.

 

"Tsuneo? Wasn't that the arrogant bastard from the fair?" Kaoru gritted his teeth.

 

"Yep." I told him, "but there's nothing going on between us. We just train together." And he seems to know more about my life than I do.

 

"Well that's good then." Kaoru breathed what appeared to be a sigh of relief.

 

"Good? You used Koray to manipulate me just because you were jealous! And while we're on the topic of Koray, she did know that date wasn't real right? Because that kiss looked pretty real." I hadn't realised that my hands were shaking so much until Kaoru grabbed them.

 

"Yeah, she knew, but it was my idea so don't be angry with her." He looked at me imploringly, and I nodded in agreement. "I'm so sorry I manipulated you. I was an idiot, and I've already been yelled at by Hikaru. I don't want us to fight, I mean, we've only just made up." He chuckled slightly, and let go of my left hand to scratch the back of his neck.

 

"I don't wanna fight either." I smiled and he gave me a thankful look. "But I don't really get why you were so jealous. It's not like we're dating or anything."

 

"We, uhhh, we could you know." Kaoru's face was now as red as his hair, and was staring very fixedly at a crack on the wall.

 

"We could what?" I was a bit annoyed about the whole fake date thing.

 

"We could, you know, date." He made brief eye contact with me, and I could see a hopeful look in his eyes.

 

"Yeah," I agreed, "We could."

 

"So... is that a yes?"

 

"It  _could_  be."

 

"Hoshi!"

 

"Hmm?"

 

"Ok, ok. Kamiya Hoshi, will you go out with me?"

 

"I will. Although you kind of sound like a middle schooler when you say it like that." I smirked and he grinned back.

 

"But you still said yes."

 

"Shhh."

 

"I guess we don't need to be in here anymore then." Kaoru looked around the room absently.

 

"I guess not." I agreed.

 

Together we left the meditation room and ended up back in the room we started in. Hikaru was standing by the sofa, staring at the open door that Koray had obviously just left through. Something told me that their relationship wasn't going to be so easy.


	27. 25 - That'll Look Good in the Dining Room

** Koray **

 

When I reached the mafia estate, my heart was pounding. If my mother was angry there was hell to pay. And what would she say when she smelt the alcohol on my breath? I dreaded to think. She’d say I let her down again, that I am _pathetic_.  


I ran towards my house, the second main building of our estate. I burst through the large oak doors and screeched to a halt when I reached the sliding doors that lead into the family dining room, not the business one. That gave me an indication that this was a very private matter, definitely something that I had done wrong.  
  
I removed my leather jacket and took a moment to catch my breath before I entered hell.  


My mother stood at the far side of the room. Her white-blonde hair was twisted into a very high, very tight, very bun, yet wisps of hair fell to frame her face; this was a sign that she was angry. She was wearing a black dress but her heels were kicked off, which meant there _really_ was trouble. She stood by the window, wine glass in hand, which was almost empty. She looked out into the distance, as if she could burn the whole place down by staring at it. My father sat, hunched over, on a low chair on one side of the long table. His black hair was ruffled as if he had run his hand through it so many times from stress. His face was pale apart from his left cheek which was bright red, probably from being hit by my mother again, also signifying that there was definitely _big_ trouble. My uncle sat closest to the door, his back facing it. He sat on the opposite head of the table to where my mother stood. His white-blonde hair stayed perfect, his white-blonde beard perfectly trimmed and he wore an un-creased grey suit while he smoked a cigarette, as if this was the most laid back situation he had been in.  
  
“What’s going on?” I managed to croak, making all three heads turn to me fast, as I was silent of foot entering.  
  
My mother scowled, downed the rest of her wine and folded her arms. “You went on a date with that _Hitachiin_ boy.”  


“Yeah-“  


“You are not allowed to see that boy again,” she demanded, staying right where she was. “Do you understand?”  


I looked at her horror-struck. It didn’t matter if she thought it was Hikaru or Kaoru, she wanted me to see neither. “No, I _don’t_ understand! Why can’t I-”  
  
“Koray, do you have any idea what this stunt has cost us?” she snapped. “The Yakuza actually told us how quaint they thought it was for my daughter to step down and date the son of a fashion designer.”  


“BUT-“  


“They think that you’re weak! And I believe they are right!” she almost screamed, her wine glass thrown across the table, “Why didn’t you think? Why do you never think?”  
  
“But I did!” I yelled back, “I got you a meeting with their father from that meeting!”  


“And you thought I’d value that?!” she yelled back.  


“You’re the one wanting a computer hacker!”  


“Not the one who works for the government!”  
  
Oh shit.  
  
“Koray,” my uncle stood up from his chair, blowing his smoke in my direction. “Your mother believes that this shows our lack of control over you and that you have no ambition to be the very best and strongest of the next generation.”  


I stood there, my hands in fists, my knuckles turning white from the pressure. I looked to my father in desperation, hoping that this time he’d finally take a stand for my happiness. Just for once in his cowardly existence in my life. He didn’t though. He stared across the room at the wall, into nothingness. Acting as if nothing was going on.  


“I don’t see why it’s _anyone’s_ business!” I finally yelled, throwing my hands in the air from frustration.

 

My mother’s eyes glazed over with fury about to pounce to this side of the room when my uncle stood up.  


“Koray, do you understand that our _reputation_ and _strength_ is most important?” he asked me, stubbing out his cigarette. “Dating a boy who has no relation to the mafia, organised crime or big money is useless to us, especially when his mother has such a weak profession. He is worthless in our world. We need our daughters to marry strong figures, our sons to marry loyal wives.” He smiled as if that could comfort me, “I’m all for your happiness, my dear niece, but being heir comes with the biggest responsibility in marrying well.”  


“But I may not even marry Hikaru, I’m too young for this!”  


“THEN WHY BOTHER!” my mother screamed.   


“Koray, if you cannot handle the responsibilities, you should pass on your role to someone who can,” my uncle sighed in a kind voice. I knew he wanted what was best for me, but he also wanted what was best for Kazuo and the rest of his family.  


“Like one of your _offspring_ , you mean, brother?!” my mother spat, “Koray, do not let your uncle take away what has been given to you.”  


She saw that I had folded my arms and rolled my eyes, I found this whole situation ridiculous. If it was that easy, I’d hand over the mafia to anyone, I didn’t want it anymore. Not if it was this controlling and ruining any happiness I had left.  


“Don’t take your brother’s death in vein, Koray. Everyone knew you were the strongest, even him, that’s why he let himself die,” she smiled, “he gave you everything he had.”  
  
That struck a nerve within me. My brother, the only family member I had cared about, who I thought would abandon me. The thought of him dying so I could take over was too painful to even comprehend. He died because he was weak, and the same could happen to Kazuo, or even Misha, and I couldn’t let that happen. Despite my family being my worst enemies, my uncle and his family never hurt me the way that my family did. I needed to protect them too.  
  
 But I had finally recognised my feelings for Hikaru. I had found happiness and I didn’t want to give it up. Our kiss played upon my mind until my thoughts changed back to my mother, how she controlled me all my life. I would never be able to give Hikaru a happy life, running from my family, never being able to fully express my feelings to him because I was never taught how. His life would be a mess and it’d be all my fault.  


I sighed and gave in, “What do _you_ want me to _do_ , mother?”  


My mother gleamed cruelly, “I will arrange everything for you, Koray. You won’t need to worry about anything.”  


“Koray, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” my uncle asked with concern, he knew me like the back of his hand, he knew me as if I was his own child. It was easier to pretend he was only concerned for Kazuo, it was better that way, so I wouldn’t change my mind.  


“I knew you’d pull through, my daughter,” my mother smiled like a shark, all teeth, hunger on her mind.  
  
My dad sighed and hiccupped drunkly and grumbled into his phone, “Send them in.”  
  
The sliding doors then reopened behind me and Kasanoda Ritsu and his father walked in. He saw me and looked down, his red hair covering his face, as if he was ashamed.  
  
My mother welcomed them into the room and offered his father a seat beside her at the head of the table, asking him to excuse the glass. “So, Kasanoda-san, let’s get down to business,” my mother smiled fakely. “My daughter has agreed to _my_ terms so it upon _me_ to make the final decision. Is everything on your side ready?”

 

“Yes, Anya,” Kasanoda’s father smiled happily, “Everything is sorted, my son knows his duty.”  


I looked at my mother, and then to Kasanoda’s father confusedly. What the hell was she doing?  


“Koray,” my mother started from her seat, getting up and walking over, “Please shake Kasanoda-sans hand.”

 

I shook the hand of Kasanoda’s father hesitantly. He beamed at me with a happy smile.  


“Now take Kasanoda Ritsu’s hand,” my mother instructed again.  


I did as I was told, Kasanoda still didn’t meet my gaze.  


My mother pulled off a ring from her finger and passed it to Kasanoda’s father, who walked over to me. He took my hand from his sons’, put my mother’s ring on it and placed my right hand back into his sons’.  


“Koray, Kasanoda and I had made an arrangement that you would marry his son if you agreed to stay on the path of heir. This is your last chance to prove yourself,” she smirked, “don’t let your family down.”  


Kasanoda’s father cheered and opened a bottle of champagne my mother provided. My mother, his father and my father all grabbed glasses to pour their drinks into. My mother grabbed my father by the arm and kissed him gently where she had hit him before, putting on a show to Kasanoda senior that our family was close. Though my uncle just sat back down and shook his head, and started to type on his phone.  
  
I stared at Kasanoda’s hand in mine; I looked at the ring, horrified at what I had just agreed to. What I was tricked into.  


Kasanoda then looked me in the eye and whispered, “I swear I had no idea till today, Koray, no idea.” I let my hand slide from Kasanoda’s and fall to my side  


My phone buzzed and I saw several notifications from Hikaru texting and calling, and saw a recent text from my uncle. It read; **_‘You know I can’t help you now?’_**

  
I looked at him and he gave me a sorry look. Then I stared at the ground, unable to say a word. Then my mother came over, scooped up my hand and placed a champagne glass into it and gave me an evil smile.  
  
“Drink up, Koray,” she winked, “It’s your _special_ day.”  
  
What had I done?

** Hoshi **

 

Tsuneo's house was in the outskirts of the city. I'd considered walking there as I wasn't sure that I could trust the limo driver not to tell anyone where I'd gone, but after realising that it was ten miles away, I kinda just thought nah. It didn't matter too much if my parents found out where I'd gone. It didn't matter too much if my parents found out where I'd gone. With Yuko causing trouble around the house constantly, I doubted they'd really care. Just this morning she'd terrorised a poor maid so much that my Mum had had to calm the poor girl down, just so that she could remove her from underneath the office desk.

The limo pulled up outside the front door and I hopped out onto the gravel before the driver could get out of his seat to open the door for me.

 

"I'll need a lift back at elevenish." I called through the car, before slamming the door shut behind me and approaching the front door. The limo pulled away and began back down the winding road that led to the house.

 

I swallowed and looked up at the large pine door which had a large brass door knocker. Maybe I should have told the limo driver to wait while I spoke to Tsuneo, so I had a quick getaway option. Oh well. What's done is done. Taking a deep breath, I walked up the stone steps at the front of the house and knocked on the door.

 

Footsteps could be heard from inside, and the door was opened by a snooty looing butler who appeared to be wearing a purple dinner jacket.

 

"And who would you be?" His voice was gravelly, and his grey eyes cold and unwelcoming.

 

I cleared my throat nervously, "My name's Kamiya Hoshi. Tsuneo invited me."

 

"Ah yes, Master Tsuneo's little girly guest. Please follow me miss, uh... Kamiya." He sneered at me before turning around and leading the way towards a door at the back of the hall.

 

I hesitated for a moment, not sure if I should follow. On deciding that I probably should, I stepped over the fresh hold and hovered in the doorway, wondering if I should close the door behind me. As if she had read my mind, a maid rushed over, closed the door, bowed to me, and rushed away before I could thank her.

The butler had reached the door he was heading towards and stood there watching me, running a hand over slicked back, oily black hair. I crossed the hall and he opened the door, stepping through and beckoning for me to follow him. I complied, and ended up in a dimly lit room. The curtains were closed and the only source of light seemed to be coming from a large fish tank that sat in the corner of the room. There were no fish in it that I could see. I was starting to freak out a bit, when the room was suddenly plunged into light by the butler flicking the light switch on. Blinking rapidly to try and restore my vision, I was able to make out a shape on a plush leather arm chair. When I'd managed to fully retrieve my eyesight, I realised the shape was Tsuneo.

 

He was curled up with his head resting on his hands, and was obviously fast asleep. The butler crossed the room and began shaking his shoulders.

 

"Mmmm?" Tsuneo murmured sleepily, raising his head groggily and taking in the butler standing over him, before noticing me standing behind. He stood up abruptly, pushing the butler to the side so that he could get to me. "Hoshi! It's great to see you! I thought you might not come; I probably wouldn't have. But it's good that you have. Sorry I couldn't meet with you sooner, but, you know, family stuff." He shrugged.

 

"Right, yeah, of course." I forced a smile onto my face, the atmosphere in the room seemed light, but I could sense some kind of dark undertone to it.

 

Tsuneo smiled, "I'm glad you understand. Now!" he clapped his hands together and turned to the butler,

"Leave us please, Nobu." He waved his hand towards the door, and the butler bowed before exiting the room. This was not before Tsuneo had whispered something in his ear, however.

 

"So... you said you knew something. What is it?" I tried to sound brave, but I knew that my voice had broken on the 'so'.

 

"Guess you wanna get straight to the point, huh?" He sat on the sofa and motioned for me to do the same. I stayed standing and he sniggered at me slightly. "What is it you want to know?"

 

"Well, I was kinda under the impression that you had something specific to tell me." I shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.

 

"Were you now?" He smirked slightly and reached forwards to grab a glass of water from the table in front of him, "I guess you're gonna be disappointed then, aren't you?"

 

I examined him closely, taking in the calm appearance as he casually sipped at the water. "I'll probably just be leaving then."

 

He appeared to choke slightly, and turned his head a little too sharply to look at me. "Wait, wait. I do know something. Don't leave yet!"

 

I crossed my arms and raised my chin, "Quite a change of heart you had there."

 

He winked, "Change keeps life exciting!"

 

"Hmm."

 

"So, I'm guessing you want to know about the zodiac corporation. Am I right, or am I right?" he wiggled his index  finger left and right, never breaking eye contact with me.

 

"Yeah, you're right. So, what is it?"

 

"Well, well, well. Before I tell you that, it'd be good to know just how much you know already."

 

"How much _I_  know?"

 

"Yep. You must know something about that dashing little painting. Something about responsibilities regarding it?" He tilted his head to the side and scratched his chin, another annoying smirk making its way to his face.

 

"I might know something. But what's it to do with you?" I was feeling increasingly more uneasy just by being in the house.

 

Tsuneo stood up and crossed the room, taking a seat at a table beside the fish tank. I watched him, and he pointed at the chair opposite him. This time it wasn't a question. I moved slowly towards the chair and sat myself right on the edge, making sure that I had a clear line of getaway to the door. He smiled, flashing dazzlingly white teeth, "I just don't wanna have to say more than I have to, is all."

 

"Well..."

 

"Are you suggesting that you came all this way and didn't expect to have to speak at all? That I would tell you everything and you'd not have to do anything? Now that would just take up a lot of my time, wouldn't it?"

 

"Yeah... I guess..."

 

"Well then!" he slapped the table and looked at me expectantly, "So just how do you know? I'll fill you in on everything  else when you're done." He leaned back in his chair and smiled vaguely.

 

"Well, I know what the painting is, kinda. It has something to do with the mafia. Some kind of treaty, or something. And my Grandparents were the ones who created it. They..." my voice cracked slightly and I had to take a minute to compose myself, "They died for it." I glanced up to see Tsuneo nodding his head and looking thoughtful. When he noticed that I'd stopped speaking he stopped nodding and motioned for me to continue. "The treaty is supposed to be looked after by my family as they aren't a unique mafia anymore. And I'm supposed to look after it because me and my sister are the only two mafia children who haven't  been fully integrated into the cause. Well not the cause exactly, but I'm not really sure how to explain it..."

 

"It's ok, I understand. Just go on, yeah?" Tsuneo had leant forwards in his chair and was leaning on his elbows, watching me intently.

 

"Uh, yeah, ok. Right, so, the treaty should have gone to my sister, but she was engaged to the heir of one of the main mafias, which I now understand to be the Rikimaru dragon league mafia as the guy was Koray's brother. They were childhood friends, but didn't spend much time at our house. They always had their playdates somewhere else –"

 

"Why?" he cut me off.

 

"Why what?"

 

"Why did they have playdates somewhere else?"

 

"Oh, uh, I don't know." I was slightly confused as to why this was important.

 

"Hmm. Continue then."

 

"Right, so, playdates elsewhere. As they got older I did see more of them, but not that often. My sister, Yuko, spoke about him a lot though, and I knew she was in love with him. The engagement had been decided from the moment they were born as my family has strong ties with his mafia. The dragon league." I had to force myself to say the last bit as I could still barely believe that my family had been this close to Koray's all this time and no one had thought to mention it to me. "Yuko didn't know about the engagement though. No idea why." I added quickly when I saw Tsuneo raise his eyebrows. "It killed her though when she found out. Especially when she realised that he knew. This was in their last year of highschool. Are you sure you need me to tell you all this?"

 

"Well it's helpful, yes. But I can tell you what happened next if it'll make you feel better?"

 

"Well, yeah, it might." Knowing that he did actually have information would be somewhat reassuring.

 

"So after she found out, your sister went off the rails dropped out of highschool before she had graduated and began working for the same mafia as her fiancée. Is that right?"

 

I nodded.

 

"But I'm guessing your parents weren't particularly happy about her dropping out of school?"

 

"No. They made her complete school last year."

 

"Right. So she completed highschool. But she still couldn't be the one to look after the painting because of her reaction when she first got the news. She was considered too untrustworthy and impulsive. So that meant that the responsibility fell to little ol' you. And you found out three years ago, when your sister was still in her supposed to be last school year, correct?"

 

"Correct." I agreed.

 

"And how did you take it exactly?"

 

I moved back in my seat slightly, tilting my head to the side.

 

"Hey, I know the facts, but not the emotions!" he waved his hands in a mock surrender, trying to prove his innocence.

 

"Well," I started after a minute, "not too well actually."

 

"Oh? How so, do tell."

 

"When Yuko found out about the engagement she confronted our parents and they told her everything. About the engagement, about our family's history with the mafia, and about the painting. Specifically, who would have to be the one to look after it in the future. And of course she told me everything. That was back when we were close."

 

"You're not close now?"

 

"Nope. Like I said, I didn't take it too well. I was informed that it would be my job to guard the painting with my life, and that the minute I left school, I would have to spend two years training full-time to become ready for the job. That was when Yuko offered a compromise. I had refused to speak to anyone for days after I found out, believing that my life was ruined. And all because she had freaked out over a stupid engagement. I of course realise now that if she hadn't freaked out, there is quite a high chance that she would be dead right about now. But at the time, all I cared about was that my sister had completely ruined my life. So she offered to use the time she'd taken out of school to join with the dragon mafia and make them believe that she was the one in possession of the painting. That way, they'd think that they had to kill her to get to it instead of me. Our parents agreed with the signed agreement from Yuko that at some point she would retake her last highschool year and graduate. So as long as I keep my mouth shut, put up with her when she's at her most annoying and act like everything's ok, I can do what I want with my life. That's my spell on the pumpkin."

 

"Your what? What pumpkin?"

 

"Nothing, nothing, it doesn't matter. Anyway, that's what I know about the painting. What's the Zodiac Corporation?"

 

"Ahh, yes. The Zodiac Corporation." Tsuneo began swinging in his chair, "Now where to start?"

 

"I'd say that somewhere around the beginning would probably do." I crossed my arms and fixed him with what I hoped was a stern expression.

 

He chuckled, "Of course, of course. The Corporation is what you might call an insurance policy. It makes sure that both mafias can be monitored by those who are part of the treaty. There is one part stationed in every city in Japan, and for cities like this one, where the mafia families are located, there are more. We met at one of them, remember?"

 

"We met at the smoothie bar, didn't we?"

 

"Yep, the Scorpio smoothie bar."

 

"Your point being?"

 

"What do you know about the western zodiac?"

 

"Not much." I was puzzled as to the significance of this.

 

"The western zodiac is the same sort of theory as ours except that the names are different. Oh, and it's monthly instead of yearly." He said this as though he was telling me something of great significance.

 

"So?"

 

"So, Scorpio is one of the Western zodiac signs. Or star signs as they're called over there. The smoothie bar operates as a recon point for the Corporation. The same goes for the Libra fashion Industries. Fashion is worldwide, so it goes without saying that the main family behind the treaty would operate the biggest recon base of them all."

 

I nodded thoughtfully. What he was saying made sense, but, "The zodiac around the outside of the painting is the Japanese zodiac, not the western one."

 

"Excellent point! And easily explained. The western zodiac signs just sound better as business or shop names than random animals would. So as the Corporation was just called the Zodiac Corporation and not the Japanese Zodiac specifically, it was made to work."

 

I nodded again. Everything was starting to make sense. But at the same time, it seemed that something important was being left out. "So, why's the painting so significant? I get that it's like the symbol and everything, but surely a logo doesn't need to be protected with someone's life."

 

"Well think about it this way. You've heard of the Arkenstone in the Hobbit?"

 

What a fucking nerd. "Yeah."

 

"Well, whoever has possession of the painting technically has possession of all the recon bases. It was written into the contract to try and deter internal fighting within the Corporation."

 

"But no one's gonna listen to someone just because they have a bit of art." This whole thing sounded stupid to me. It was difficult to believe that my family had dedicated their lives to this painting. My Grandparents had died for it. And for what? Something so ludicrous that it sounded like the plot to a fantasy film?

 

"No, of course they're not. But if a peace treaty was found in possession of one of the mafias and it was destroyed, then what do you think would happen then?"

 

I was starting to catch on to what he was saying now. "It would be like a declaration of war!"

 

"Exactly!" Tsuneo's eyes were bright and he looked excited. "And there's nothing that the Zodiac Corporation could do about it!"

 

"Hold on though. How exactly do you know all this?"

 

"I've been part of the Corporation for about 8 eight years now. They hired me when the Ketsueki Samejima mafia kicked me out." He said this nonchalantly, and checked his watch, before clicking his fingers and looking at the door expectantly.

 

A maid walked in, by the looks of it the same maid who had closed the door for me, and handed him a piece of paper. He took it without saying thank you and waved her out. As she was passing me, she looked up briefly and I realised that I recognised her.

 

"Mayoko, right?"

 

She stopped and turned back around, her eyes wide. She glanced at Tsuneo quickly, and I didn't miss her look of fear. She was wringing her hands to the point that it looked painful. "Miss Kamiya, it's a pleasure to see you again." She bowed and left the room.

 

This was a huge difference to how she'd been in the smoothie bar. Her hair was ragged and her nails chipped. Not to mention her attitude. I'd been under the impression that she was from a high class family, not that she was a maid. Tsuneo was watching me closely from across the table.

 

"You recognise Mayoko then? My 'girlfriend'" He made quotation marks with his fingers.

 

"What do you mean 'girlfriend'?" I imitated him.

 

"Aww. Sweet Hoshi . So innocent and cute. Did you really believe I'd be dating someone like her?" he sneered slightly and stood up, beginning to pace back and forwards, casting occasional glances at the door.

 

"But at the smoothie bar, and at track. You said..."

 

"Yep, that's what I said." He stopped pacing and turned to the door fully. It had opened and the butler had walked back in, accompanied by none other than Jessie Drakon. They were holding a something large covered in a green blanket. "Ahh, Nobu, Jessie, bring it over here." He pointed at the table and I stood up and took a step back.

 

"Here you go mister Tsuneo. I acquired it just as you asked." Jessie refused to make eye contact with me and instead stared determinedly at the floor.

 

"Hoshi!" Tsuneo wrapped his arm around my shoulders, "I believe you'll recognise this." And he reached forwards and pulled the blanket off the object.

 

My painting lay on the table. It looked exactly the same as when I'd last seen it, not a scratch on it. I reached out to touch it and Tsuneo's grip around my shoulders tightened.

 

"Where did you...?" I whispered, unable to finish my sentence.

 

"The Samejima mafia acquired it from your estate months back. Mr Drakon here was fired by a certain Miss Anzu, you might be familiar with her? Well as we were both in the same predicament after facing injustice by the Samejima, I decided to hire him to work form. Not as a private detective, but as a thief."

 

"A thief? YOU MEAN YOU STOLE IT!" I shouted, causing Jessie to flinch slightly. "Why? What use could you possibly have for it?"

 

Nobu stepped forward, "Didn't you listen to my master's explanation? He hates the Samejima, and the painting is the key to revenge."

 

"Yep." Tsuneo let go of my shoulders and began strolling around the edge of the table. "All I have to do is plant the destroyed painting in the Samejima base, and let the dragons do my work for me!" He grinned, his eyes glinting dangerously.

 

"So why am I here? Why tell me all this?" I was backing away now, reaching into my back pocket for my phone. Before I could get it however, Nobu had grabbed my arms and held me still. I tried to twist out of his grip, but he dug his nails into my wrist painfully.

 

"Well, you see little Hoshi. Just the painting alone isn't enough. I want to really guarantee that the Samejima mafia is destroyed, so what better way than to destroy the guardian as well? I'd like to make sure to get the maximum amount of blood on this piece of art.  Just for effect, you know?" And he pulled a gun out of his back pocket and pointed it at me.

 

I instinctively closed my eyes, hearing what sounded like a lot of shouting from Jessie, before the resounding 'BANG' of a gunshot.  But I felt no pain, and after standing stock still for two minutes, I was relatively sure that I wasn't dead. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Tsuneo lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Jessie was standing over him, gun in hand, breathing heavily. Nobu let go of my arms and made a run at Jessie, drawing his own gun from the inside of his dinner jacket. He fired one bullet that Jessie managed to avoid, although I noticed that he clutched his left arm for a millisecond, before he fired at Nobu and there were two bodies lying on the floor.

 

"QUICKLY, FOLLOW ME!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room, sprinting with me to the front door. We passed Mayoko who watched us with wide eyes as she mopped the floor. Jessie touched the earpiece he was wearing and began speaking quickly. I picked up abstract words such as 'Miss Anzu', 'She's safe'and 'send someone to recover it'.

 

We had just reached the door when it burst open to reveal Yuko. She saw Jessie gripping my hand and immediately punched him in the face, a nasty crunching sound suggesting that she's just broken his nose. He recoiled back, blood streaming down his face. Yuko took my wrist and pulled me out of the building, stuffing me in a waiting limo.

 

"Wait, what about Mr Drakon?" I stopped her from closing the door.

 

"The shady blonde guy?"

 

"He saved me!"

 

Yuko looked like she was about to argue when a figure appeared at the door that could be clearly made out as Jessie. He was holding something large ad I realised it was the painting. He ran to the limo and tossed it onto the passenger's seat across from me, before jumping onto the adjoining seat. Yuko looked furious, but upon seeing his beat up nose and my desperate face, she jumped into the limo herself and tapped the roof, signalling for the driver to get us away from that terrible house.


	28. 26 - What a Mess

** Hoshi **

The sound of the school bell pierced the air, cutting through my aching head like a knife. I had only just made it to school on time this morning, and I really wasn't at my best. I'd woken up to a splitting headache, and no amounts of water had changed that. As pulling a brush through my hair had proved to be a painful experience, I'd decided to just leave it, and currently looked like I'd got in a fight with a hurricane, and lost, badly.

The corridors were full of people and I wasn't able to push myself through as effectively as I would on any other day. I was pushed into the wall a few times, just because of the sheer amount of people walking in all directions. This didn't do much to help improve my mood, and soon I was wandering around the slowly emptying corridors in a complete daze. My mind and body didn't feel as though they were attached to the world around me, and it was as though I was observing everything as would be done through a dream. I could hardly remember where my classroom was, but had a niggling suspicion that I had already passed it.

"Hoshi?" A voice called out behind me, but it was like I was hearing it underwater.

I kept walking ignoring the figure I could just about make out in my peripheral vision.

"Hey, Hoshi. Wait!" The voice called out again, and this time it seemed as though it was slightly clearer.

I stopped, and turned to see a brown haired figure jogging over to me. He frowned when he saw my shabby appearance, his hazel eyes clouded over with concern.

"What are you doing in this part of the School. This is the A-class corridor."

"I dunno. I'm kinda just here." He seemed to be vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Little weird, but ok." He sighed and began looking around him. I was still staring at him, quite possibly unblinkingly, trying to force my frazzled mind into recognising him. Suddenly his hand was waving in front of my face, "Earth to Hoshi, are you listening?"

And in that moment it clicked as to who he was. "HIKARU?"

"Yes?"

"It's you!"

"It sure is... wait! Who did you think I was?" He clutched a hand to his chest looking hurt.

"I didn't know. Your hair's different so I couldn't place you." That was it. His usual ginger hair was now a dark brownish colour.

"Jesus Christ Hoshi. I dyed my hair, I didn't get plastic surgery!"

"Sorry. So, uh, where are we again?" I had just fully started to realise that I was lost.

"I just told you; the class-A corridor." He tilted his head slightly and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?"

I jumped back from his touch, "Yep, yep, fine thank you. Really, really good."

"So... you gonna go to class?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck

I considered just saying 'yes' and wandering around the school for a while longer, before I remembered that the Winter exams were fast approaching, and I really couldn't afford to miss out on any revision. "I'm lost." I finally answered in a whisper.

He burst out laughing and had to clutch his sides to keep himself upright. "How is that even possible?" he managed to choke out, still laughing.

"I don't know." I looked at the floor and dug my nails into my palms.

"Damn. What's gotten into you? Usually you'd be way more snippy about this." He placed a hand on the top of my head and gave me a small smile.

"Sorry..." I mumbled.

He shrugged and began walking down the corridor. I followed after and we were soon in a completely different part of the school. Hikaru stopped in front of a classroom that I quickly recognised to be 2-B – Both Koray and I had been moved up a class after the Summer exams. I gave him a small bow, before I walked into the room, closing the door behind me.

"You're half an hour late Miss Kamiya. That'll be a week's worth of detentions."

"Of course, Miss." I nodded and made my way to my desk. Koray reached over and gave my arm a poke, but I ignored her and stared unseeingly at the board on the wall in front of me.

*****************************************************************

When the period had ended, Koray poked my arm again, this time a lot more forcefully. Figuring that she wasn't going to take my ignoring her as an option, I turned my head slowly and fixed a forced smile onto my face.

"Yeah?" I hoped that the smile was till fixed, but I couldn't be completely sure.

"What's wrong?" She leant so far forwards in her chair that I was concerned that she might fall off. She maintained direct eye-contact with me for the entire time.

"Nothing, I'm fine." I sighed. I really didn't feel like having to actually say words. I didn't particularly feel like standing up if I was honest.

"Don't give me that bullshit. We both know something's wrong and it'll be a lot easier if you just tell me." He glared angrily and gave me another sharp poke in the arm.

"There's nothi-" I saw he get ready for another poke, "Something happened yesterday evening."

"Yeah, I think I can relate." She said it so quietly that it was barely audible.

"Something happened to you?" I saw an opportunity to avoid answering her previous question, so I of course took it.

"It's not important."

I gave her arm an angry poke. "it's going to be easier if you just tell me."

She gave me a small smile before she lifted her left hand to show me. it took a few seconds before I registered what the glinting diamond on her ring finger meant.

"YOU'RE ENGAGED?!" it was the loudest I'd spoken all day.

"I sure am." She looked at the ground.

"To who?" I placed a hand on her shoulder in what I hoped to be a comforting way.

"Kasanoda Ritsu."

"The mafia guy?"

"That's him." She looked close to tears. "I don't know what to do. There's no way out. Not unless I want to face the wrath of my mother." The tears were flowing more heavily now, and I pulled her into a hug. The class was empty, and it didn't take long before my fake happy façade had completely broken, and we were both sitting in the quiet classroom, bawling our eyes out.

Koray managed to pull herself together first. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and began to steady her breathing so that it sounded calm. "What's wrong. I've never seen you cry before and frankly it's kinda scaring me." She pushed herself to her feet and looked down at me with her arms crossed.

I sniffed miserably, contemplating if I should just lie. But I needed to tell someone. I needed someone on my side who wasn't a family member or Jessie. "I... I, I saw someone die." I managed to choke out.

"You, you what?" her eyes widened, and she was immediately crouching at my side, a hand on my back. "Why? What happened? Was it an accident, or?"

I shook my head. "He was trying to kill me, so Jessie shot him." And I broke down into tears again.

"Jessie? That cowboy bastard?" She cracked her knuckles aggressively. "Wait, did you say that someone was trying to kill you?"

"Mmmhmm." I mumbled into my arm, which I had placed over my face in an attempt to stop the tears.

"Holy shit Hoshi! Are you alright?!"

"I'm just super." I replied sarcastically. Even when crying there was no stopping my sarcastic self.

"You know what I meant. Are you hurt in anyway? Why were they trying to kill you?" Her never-ending onslaught of questions continued.

I made a split-second decision that telling her all my families secrets probably wasn't the best of ideas, so instead went with something that wasn't top far away from the truth. "I've been receiving threatening letters for a while and I recently found out that they were from Tsuneo – you know the guy from the smoothie bar who's also on the athletics team?" I glanced at her and she nodded. "well, I went to confront him, and he pulled a gun. Jessie happened to be passing at the time, and he shot Tsuneo before he could shoot me."

Even though this wasn't exactly what happened, it still brought back vivid memories of the event. Tsuneo pointing the gun at me. The sickening 'bang', and then him and Nobu lying in pools of there own blood. I dry-retched, causing Koray to panic and tug my hair back. I didn't actually throw up though, and just ended up slumped on the floor, crying uncontrollably.

Koray slumped down next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. She turned to me, obviously about to say something, when we heard a different voice.

"Hoshi, you in here?" movement at the door indicated that the person was making their way through the desks. "HOSHI, ARE YOU OK. WHAT'S WRONG? WHAY ARE YOU CRYING?!"

And suddenly I was being hugged from the other side from Kaoru. I leant into his shoulder and felt him kiss my forehead.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard him ask Koray.

I looked up and shook my head slightly, hoping she'd get the message, and luckily, she did.

"Just family stuff. I think she'd prefer not to talk about it."

He nodded slightly. "Shh. It's alright. We'll sort out whatever this is." He whispered soothingly.

"I'll go and get some cake. I think she could use that." Koray removed her arms from my shoulders and stood up. Me and Kaoru sat in silence as we listened to her leave.

"So, you really don't want to talk about it?" Kaoru asked, leaning his head against mine.

"Not really." I sniffed.

"Ok then. We'll just sit here."

And that's what we did. We sat in comfortable silence, with Kaoru occasionally whispering terrible jokes to me, which I occasionally managed to giggle at.  
  
  


** Koray **

I left Kaoru with Hoshi in the hope that if I brought her back cake she'd feel slightly better. I wasn't good at the whole comforting thing. I wish I was. I didn't realise what hell Hoshi had been going through, almost being killed. It was hard to imagine all the things she had been saying, especially Jessie appearing out of nowhere to save her. Life was truly shit.

I made my way down the long corridor, my boots slamming against the polished floor. The hallway was dark in most parts except where the windows stood, pouring light into the darkness, it was almost blinding.For such a sunny day it was a wonder that anything could make this day any worse then it had been, but of course it can.

As I got nearer to the pink club door, it opened and someone stepped out. I didn't want to look up, knowing I was on a mission and the other person who didn't look up till halfway through their sentence had started; "Have you seen Kao-" and then stopped.

I stood as still as a statue, somehow subconsciously thinking that if I remained in the same place without moving that he would be unable to see me anymore and we can avoid this awkward encounter. How wrong I was.

"Oh," was what finished his initial question.

I slowly shuffled into a different position and looked to the floor; I didn't want to see his face.  I assumed that he knew before I even got to school this morning. It was hard to miss after my mother had it announced. Everyone knew about my engagement by now.

"Oh, you dyed your hair?" I asked, surprised that his hair was now auburn and not ginger. I didn't notice it at all today, though, I was just trying to avoid the twins all together.

He grunted in response and re-positioned himself impatiently as if he had finished his question and expected my answer.

"Any particular reason?" I asked about his hair.

He grunted again.

"I was – um - getting cake – uh - for Hoshi," I mumbled, glancing at his stone cold face. "She's in a pretty bad state. I – er - left her with Kaoru."

"You  _always_  do run from a difficult situation," he scoffed, raking a hand through his hair, not daring to look me in the eyes.

"Excuse me," I snapped through gritted teeth, "But I'm doing my best here. At least I'm  _trying_."

"You didn't  _try_  with me," he spat, "you just ran straight to Kasanoda."

I guess he knew about the engagement then.

"That is not fair!" I yelled, turning away from him, "You don't understand!"

"Don't I?!" He yelled back, getting closer to me. "Because from what  _I_  can see, we got so close that  _you_  turned right around and  _ran_   _right_  into Kasanoda's arms!"

"Hey, you know  _nothing_!" I yelled, "I had  _no_  choice!"

"Of course you  _did_ -"

"You know  _what_  my mother told me?!" I scoffed looking right into his darkened hazel eyes, "That apparently dating a Hitachiin boy would  _degrade_  the family name, being with a _fashion_ designer's son! And you know what?!" I jabbed an accusing finger into his chest, "I was  _defending_  you! But you just jumped conclusions!" I lowered my voice and my finger. "I'm doing this for your good as well as my own! I'm protecting you!"

"I'd rather you didn't," he growled, looking down at me, his eyes so cold.

"Hikaru, why can't you see that I  _can't_  escape my family?"

"Can't  _escape_? You were so close on Saturday to getting what you wanted and yet you went back to them!"

"I had  _no choice_!" I was almost crying at this point. I didn't know what to do or say; I didn't know how to explain to an angry Hikaru how my own mother used my dead brother as some kind of emotional blackmail. I couldn't just tell him that if I carried on with him, that my mother would find a way to have him hurt, or killed.

"YOU ALWAYS HAD A CHOICE! I GAVE YOU A CHOICE!" He sighed, the emotion seeping from his eyes. "And you chose the mafia." He turned away. "Don't come back here, Koray. Keep the hell away from me and the host club because you hurt and ruin  _everything_  you touch!"

Before I could come back with anything, he turned down the corridor and ran as fast as he could. Close to tears, I stood there for a moment, hunched over, my stomach retching as if I was about to throw up. Then I steadied myself against the wall, breathing heavily, trying to control it before entering the club room calmly.

Kyoya stopped me in my tracks as soon as I came through the door. "Did Hikaru leave?" he asked me.

"Yes," I replied monotonously, pretending that I wasn't almost on the floor having a breakdown, which Kyoya seemed to ignore as well. "And Kaoru's with Hoshi."

He scribbled in his notebook, "Right okay." He looked at me closely for a moment, which was freaky because he never looks at anyone for this amount of time. "You and Hikaru had an argument?" He pointed out.

I sniffled and attempted to 'get an eyelash out of my eye'. "Not that it's any of  _your_  business."

"It is  _my_  business when it affects our club," he pushed up his glasses, "We all protect each other here, you know, in any situation. So if you don't mind me asking, I think its best if you don't talk to Hikaru for the time being."

"To be honest," I sighed, over the point of caring, "I think it's best too."

"Glad we have that sorted." He turned back to me, "I wish you would have made an appropriate decision for your character, Koray, it would have made everyone's lives a  _lot_  easier." I deadpanned over his selfish, stupid business obsession. "Anyways,  _congratulations_  on your engagement to Kasanoda, I'm sure you'll get on - well."

I bowed quickly and left Kyoya, stupid twat, interfering with life because it's bad for his stupid business. He gave his dad the middle finger, he's on the higher ground, he thinks everyone should defy their parents now blah blahblah. Not everyone is capable of making money through a club to fund themselves to buy over their parents company,  _Kyoya_.

Before I could reach the cake, however, Hunny stopped me. He held his bunny close and looked at me with big, sad eyes. "I wish you and Hika-chan would be friends again."

"I don't think we ever will, senpai," I sighed and he patted my arm, which I didn't flinch away from."He  _hates_  me."

"Mitsukuni," Mori stepped in from behind me, causing me to jump from being skittish. "I think we should give them  _both_ some space."

Hunny nodded in agreement and gave me a fake smile before bursting into his fake act in front of his customers. It was obvious that Mori was on Hikaru's side. I was thankful that even though Hunny was closer with Hikaru, he still checked on me. I rolled my eyes and quickly grabbed a plate of pink cake before I was stopped from leaving again.

I had a beckoning wave from Haruhi to come over to her and when I greeted her with a forced smile, she gave me a glare.

"It's not nice what you did," she told me straight up.

"Not you  _too_ ," I groaned, "Listen, it's complicated and you don't understand, okay? So just drop it... _please_." She lifted her eyebrows, not giving in. "Let's just say that if I didn't give into my mother's demands Hikaru may have been  _dead_  by now."

She must have heard my voice break as I said that and saw how I re-realised how that my decision was a lose-lose situation.

She patted my arm, just liked Hunny did, before she shuffled on her seat, giving me a small smile. I guessed I received some kind of forgiveness.

"You remember Misuzu, right? From Karuizawa?"Haruhi asked.

"Yeah," I laughed, "He was great."

"Well this," Haruhi waved her hand over towards a girl with blonde hair sitting beside her, who was now paying attention, "This is his daughter, Yasumura Mei."

This girl was actually beautiful, with her long honey hair, tanned skin, both eyes were blue, unlike my stupid different colours. I was jealous of this girl.

"Oh hi, I'm Rikimaru Koray," I bowed.

"Hello," she smiled and then spoke aside to Haruhi, "Is that the Koray Hikaru was  _talking_  about?"

I sighed inwardly, "I can hear you still."

"Well, my  _girl_ , you are quite the gossip around here," she smiled and leaned in closer.

"Really?" I groaned.

"Yeah, Haruhi was kinda angry at you for what you did but I told her there's  _always_  a good reason behind things," she smiled nicely and I was thinking she was a really great person till she then butted in, "What's yours?"  
  


Wow, she was straight to the point.

"Mei, if she doesn't want to we can't make-"

"It's fine, Haruhi, I already told Hikaru my reasons, and it's his own problem whether he accepts them or not," I grabbed a cup of tea from Haruhi's table and downed it like a shot, earning weird glances from the fangirls who were listening in for the drama. "My mother made the engagement, and I'm doing it for my brother."

"That's not the full reason," Prodded Mei, "I know your brother must be close to you, but it wouldn't make you agree to marry the wrong guy. "

"Mei, her brother died last year," Haruhi scolded her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean."

"It's okay." It wasn't okay. That hurt me. My brother wouldn't make me marry the wrong guy. But the situation he left me in did. "As I told Haruhi, if I didn't get engaged to Kasanoda then Hikaru may have been killed. I am part of the mafia and my mother is insane."

I heard whispers coming from the fangirls who I had forgotten were listening in and for being in such a crap mood, I automatically turned to them and gave them the middle finger.

"That was a bit rude, Koray," Haruhi whispered, "I know you're having a shit day but you're in the host club."

"KORAY," I heard an annoying voice shrill behind me. I turned around to see Tamaki coming towards us. I groaned, gripping the plate of cake till my knuckles turned white. I didn't know what to expect from Tamaki; whether he'd kick me out of the club for being unladylike or do that thing he does when he gets all serious and yells at me for what I did to Hikaru. I guessed it what the less serious of the latter judging from his cheerful disposition.

"Koray!" he greeted cheerfully, "You never told us the news!"

"The news?"

"About your engagement to Kasanoda!" He seemed way too cheerful about it seeing as he cared a lot for his club members, which meant Hikaru too. Suddenly it dawned on me. He was having competition from Kasanoda competing for Haruhi's affection, so now Kasanoda was engaged to me, he was left free to grab Haruhi by the shoulders and kiss, kiss, fall in love and that crap.

"Oh yeah," I mumbled and kicked the ground with my shoe. "I guess haven't."

"My father told me this morning, but I haven't seen you all day," he smiled. "He's getting the newspaper club to put it in the school news letter."

"He hasn't has he!" I yelped, which gained me many glares and confused faces.

Tamaki wrapped his arm around my shoulders which I attempted to shrug off.

"Senpai, leave her alone," Haruhi instructed him, which he obeyed with puppy eyes, "She's going through a lot right now."

All the girls who were watching raised their eyes, mumbling to each other about how unhappy I seemed to be now that I was engaged.

"Can I talk to you outside for a moment, Koray?" he asked rather strangely, his attitude seemed more serious this time.

Trying to avoid a serious talk I pointed at the cake and told him I had to take it to an upset Hoshi, he nodded, understandingly but told me it'd only take a minute.

Once we were outside the club doors, he closed them and looked down at me with sad eyes.

"I'm gussing this isn't what you wanted?" he asked me.

Confused at first, I raised my eyebrows and stuttered.

"Hikaru has been acting weird all day," he sighed, "I should've known when we talked about your engagement that something was going on."

"And you somehow guessed now?"

"No, Haruhi told me," he furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, "She and Hikaru talk."

"Oh."

"So it isn't what you wanted – this engagement?"

I looked away and outthe window to where dark clouds were approaching to make a storm. "No, it's not."

"Koray, you helped me when I was engaged to Eclair."

"I did?" I was surprised, I didn't remember really speaking to him.

"You told me she was a bitch and that I wouldn't be happy."

"I did?" Not remembering this at all.

"After Hikaru was poisoned."

"Ohhhhhh." I remembered. There was a lot going on that night. "Are you trying to tell me that Kasanoda's a bitch?" I asked, amused.

"NOO!" he yelled. "I meant that you shouldn't be with him if you can't, not just for your parents approval. I realised that and I'm a lot happier now."

"I'm afraid its not that easy, Tamaki."

"How not? It's the same situation, is it not?"

"It's not," I deadpanned. "My family know exactly how to deal with a situation like mine. If I fall in love with someone of no use to them, especially as heir, they can just scare them away or kill them off."

"WHAT?!?" Tamaki gasped, "WOULD THEY REALLY DO THAT?!?"

I looked down, "I'm afraid so."

"WAIT," Tamaki gasped again. "YOU JUST SAID YOU WERE IN LOVE WITH HIKARU!"

"WHAT?!?" I spluttered, "NO I DIDNT, I JUST MEANT THAT BECAUSE WE WERE ALMOST DATING THAT IT HINTED THAT-"

"KORAY, ITS OBVIOUS NOW!" he laughed happily before frowning. "OH, this is sad. You can't be together."

"Not while I'm heir," I frowned.

"And if you're not heir?" Tamaki asked hopefully.

"Then I would be disowned and thrown out and I would be vulnerable," I mumbled, "I would be seen as bait and kidnapped or killed."

Tamaki patted my shoulder sadly, hoping I wouldn't bite his hand off. "I'm sorry your world is like this, Koray. You're a good person."

"It's just the way the cookie crumbles," I sighed till I just realised what I had said and started laughing. Tamaki joined in till tears were streaming down our faces, him from watching me become hysterical, mostly because I was emotional till I was just plain crying.

Suddenly a voice interrupted whatever was going on. We turned around to see Hoshi with the twins who were walking her towards the club.

"I thought you were getting her cake?" asked Kaoru, till I produced the cake on the plate which was hidden from his view. "Oh."

I realised now that my face was stained in wet mascara stripes and by the time they had arrived, I was sitting on the ground, crying into Hoshi's cake as Tamaki attempted to comfort me. What a mess.

I jumped up, attempting to hide my face from Hikaru who was glaring at me. "Here's you – cake." I mumbled with a hiccup, handing it over to Hoshi a bit too forcefully. Then I started running down the hallway as I felt Hikaru's glare tearing into me. And I had to get away. Little did I know that was the last time I went to the host club that year.


	29. 27 - A Very Mafia Christmas

** Koray **

Christmas; the worst possible time of the year to try and get along with everyone you know and more. Christmas; trying to show how you are capable of being both festive and fancy at the same time. Christmas; the loneliest time of the year for those who have kept themselves away to avoiding hurting others. All of those applied to me.

It was December 25th and I stood in a crowd of people feeling as though I was being suffocated. My mother had stuffed me into a slim red dress, forced me into stilettos and a faux fur jacket; ready for Christmas with the mafia.

The problem was that Christmas with the mafia wasn't really the warm, fuzzy, joyous parties you see in movies. Everyone tries to outdo each other. They stand there with wine and whiskey in their hands, staring each other down like packs of wolves, trying to prove that their little family was the best. It was a time where everyone apart of the higher class of our mafia, would have drink, dance and show how much better they were than everyone else.

I was okay with these gatherings before. My brother and I used to stand in whatever our mother forced us to wear and just sneak food the whole time. We always ended up escaping outside, followed by Kazuo, wishing for snow. Last Christmas I didn't go, because my parents were out of town, most likely because they didn't have the heir sorted out. My uncle did invite me to go with him but I declined because of everything that was going on, and the fact that I just don't like Christmas.

Tonight, I couldn't escape like I used to with my brother and cousin. Tonight, Kasanoda and I were the guests of honour because of our engagement, and all attention was on us. The party started as soon as we arrived.

We walked into the grand mansion we used as a guest house and were swept up by some people with cameras. They were journalists who found our young mafia engagement exciting and newsworthy. My mother glared at me as in the first picture they took I was glaring. I put on my fake smile, and clung to Kasanoda for dear life, who was also trying his best to not look awkward and/or terrifying.

At first it was weird to be spending an excessive amount of time with Kasanoda but we both soon warmed up to the idea when people at school basically pushed us together. We put all our energy into making it work for the mafia, exchanging views and ideas for what we'd do when we were finally in charge. The whole time though, he kept asking me if this was what I really wanted. And every time I would shrug it off and say my life would succumb to nothing else; not very flattering to him, I know, but I meant it in a nice way.

As soon as the pictures were taken and I had grabbed a glass of champagne, we were escorted into the main hall where everyone else waited. We were welcomed by a wave of quiet and composed applause followed by everyone's interests being swept up by their own conversations again.

My mother placed a cold hand on my shoulder. "If you do well tonight, you'll earn a new motorcycle," she bribed me through gritted teeth and a fake smile.

I raised my eyebrows at her, my mouth wide; surprised she would even say such a thing. She smirked and walked away, grabbing the arm of my father who had wandered off towards the whiskey, he had a habit of over-doing it with alcohol ever since Akio's death - like father, like daughter, as they say.

I turned to Kasanoda who sipped his champagne in a way that showed that he actually didn't like it.

"How can she think I'd want a new one?" I huffed. "It's as if – Hi! Thankyou! It's nice to see you again! How's the bullet wound?" I was interrupted by a nice enough Mafia woman who complimented my dress and congratulated us. Then I carried on, "It's as if she never thought I ride my brother's bike –  _because_  it was my  _brothers bike_."

"Koray, your mother doesn't understand the things that you do," Kasanoda choked on his champagne and put it down on a nearby table. "She thinks she can get you to behave by bribery and to be  _honest_  she's not wrong." I glared at him. "Just be impressed she paid enough attention to the fact that you practise on your brother's bike a lot."

I nodded frumpily knowing he was right. "Since when did you become so wise?"

He rolled his eyes and gave an uneasy smile to passersby.

I saw Kazuo and his father approach us both, a glass of whiskey in hand. They were laughing, joking about something. They were so close and I was so jealous of them.

"Merry Christmas, Koray!" my uncle greeted, pulling me into a hug. You could tell he was somewhat influenced by alcohol but Christmas always transformed him into a happier person. Not having to deal with my mother also did that too. "How's the engagement going?"

"Just peachy," I sighed.

Kasanoda shook both my uncle's hand and my cousin's. "It's alright."

"You seem to be handling Koray though, which is all that matters," he smiled, "She's quite the wild one."

"She sure is," Kasanoda laughed.

"I'm not some animal!" I rolled my eyes and glanced at Kazuo who was looking at the ground and scuffing his shoe against it.

"I think we should go make our rounds and say hello to everyone" Kasanoda announced.

"Good idea," my uncle laughed, "Better to get it over and done with early, right?"

We both laughed and smiled before we walked away, arm in arm. It took a longtime to get round through the many people, almost an hour in fact. We discussed everything to the dress that I wore, to the ring on my finger, to the policies I may take when I'm officially leading. I had glares, I had smiles, I had pushes out of the way to big handshakes and hugs. The mafia was such a mixed bag of people that it was exhausting communicating with so many different types.

I was getting ready to finally sit down with just my second glass of champagne when I hearda metallic chink echoing throughout the room until it stopped silent.

My mother stepped forward, her arms draped around my father, who looked slightly shaken and tipsy himself. He was somewhat drunk, you could definitely see that, but it wasn't a unusual sight at these parties.

I knew my father drank these days because of Akio, but it's only recently he's gotten worse. When my brother died, sure he was sad and drunk a little, but now he drinks quite a lot. I've witnessed he and my mother argue at home and the alcohol is giving him strength to fight back. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

"Friends and family!" My mother greeted with a radiant smile. "It is a time of giving and our daughter gave me- ** _us_**  one of the bets gifts of all! The decision to get married and join together two strong families! I know that you will all see a strong and  _capable_  young couple before you tonight and here's to the hope that they will do us proud!" Everyone raised their glasses and nodded to us.

Music started playing again, but this time it was louder, inviting people to dance but no one did. Kasanoda and I looked around with confusion till my eyes met with my mother's glare and she nodded towards the middle of the floor, demanding us to dance.

I didn't want to mess up. I was too tired to face the wrath of my mother so I quickly dragged Kasanoda towards the floor and dragged him into position. He was confused and I knew he couldn't dance well so I made sure to hold us both upright and that we didn't stumble.

Soon enough we were dancing somewhat comfortably, spinning in circles and slowly becoming dizzy. More and more people dragged their partners around till the dance floor was filled with mafia couples, including my mother and father and my uncle and aunt.

"Koray," Kasanoda whispered into my ear, "I can't keep up. Remember, I can't dance as well as Hikaru." I knew he meant it as a joke towards my  _brief_   _thing_  with Hikaru, and how we danced at the Ouran Fair's ball. We had made jokes towards it before, because humour was the only way I could try and get over him. But this time, it was just too much.

After the song was over, I didn't speak to Kasanoda and I broke away from him. I strode towards the drinks before picking up a shot of vodka and downing it. Hecame behind me. "Look, I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It's fine joking about the past, Kasanoda, but don't compare yourself to him and don't ever imply that I compare you to him."

" _Koray_?"

"I'm tired,  _okay_!" I snapped. I shook my head and sighed. I just wanted to get out of here. "I think I need to go."

"Should I come?"

"No, it's better if one of us stays." I looked towards my parents, "Just try and distract them for me, please?"

He nodded and gave my shoulder a pat, and acting in front of our family, he kissed me on the cheek.

As he got closer to my parents, I got closer to the door till a familiar introductory song to a dance caught my attention. It was  _the_  dance. This particular dance paid tribute to our Russian ancestry. It was Russian music, a group-couple dance. I used to dance it with my brother until the year he he became engaged and I stayed at home.

I couldn't do this dance with Kasanoda, he wouldn't know it and to be quite honest I didn't want to be with him. I knew everyone would expect to see me on that dance floor, there was no escaping it. They'd all get suspicious straight away.

I scoured the room and found my dance partner and rushed over. I grabbed Kazuo by the hand and dragged him into the circle that was forming. To the intricate and fast jig music, we danced in a out of the circle, into smaller circles  and then jigging round in our couples.

Kazuo was confused at first, his blue eyes questioning me without him speaking. I saw that he eventually realised that I wanted to dance with someone close enough to my brother. As we became hot and breathless, the dance eventually finished after doing it a second time as everyone seemed to enjoy it so much.

People started crowding around the dance floor so I dragged Kazuo again and took him outside the doors they had just opened for fresh air. I ran with his hand still in mine till we reached the far side of the dark garden.

I looked above to see a cloudy sky, only a couple stars snuck through with a full light. The moon shon bright above us, illuminating the dark garden that only had lights along the path.

It was freezing, I hadn't taken my jacket. My stilettos were covered in mud but I didn't care.

"Koray," he heaved a breath. "Are you alright?"

"What do think?" I spat before apologising. "I'm not, Kaz."

I collapsed to my knees with heavy sighs and tearless cries. He fell to the ground and gripped me into a hug. "I can't do this without him, Kaz, I can't. It's too much!"

We hadn't been the closest of relatives for a few years now but when we needed to, we were as close as we had been when Akio was alive.

"It shouldn't be expected of you," he sighed. I looked up at him questioningly. Since when did my strong, all-action cousin say calming words? He really  _had_  grown up.

"Why am I doing this? Why can't I just stop?" I hiccupped.

"You had no choice," he mumbled, "None of us have a choice."

I gripped him, facing him, we both knelt on the ground, which I realised now had a soft covering of snow. "How it never snowed when Akio wanted it to?"

His blue eyes opened wide in my sudden change in subject. "I suppose he's trying to make it now," he sighed, believing in that spiritstuff. Maybe it was time I started to. It's a nice way of thinking that Akio was watching over me, making it snow to cheer me up.

"Do you think he's proud of me?" I sniffed, "I know I always called him weak because he had too much of a conscience but he always knew what to do. Now I have a  _conscience_  and  _guilt_  and I don't know what to do!"

"He was always proud of you, Koray," Kazuo smirked and rolled his eyes, "Sometimes even jealous, especially of how you could handle your mother."

"I'm not doing so well now."

"It's understandable."

"So what do I do now?"

"What do you mean?" he asked hopeful. I knew he thought I meant if I should carry on being heir or not, as he somehow actually wanted to be heir.

"I mean about tonight," I grumbled. "I'd gladly give over the leadership to you if I knew that my friends were guaranteed safety. But they're not safe and never will be till my mother's probably dead."

"What a mess," he sighed, still holding me. I felt like recently I wasn't a strong person, and that everyone I met had to hold me. It made me feel so weak.

"I know," I sniffed and ruffled his blonde hair.

"If only Akio's fiancé didn't distract him in Italy," Kazuo stood up, releasing me. "I think that's what got him killed."

"What do you mean?" I gasped, jumping up from the cold ground.

"His fiancé? Before we went to Italy, they had an argument which tore him up pretty bad," Kazuo was confused at my confusion. "He focused his anger into our mission but then she turned up and he died."

"WHAT?!?" I cried out.

"I THOUGHT YOU KNEW?" he jumped madly as I did too.

"I didn't!" I gripped his shoulders tight, holding us both down. "This whole time I was blaming him on everything going wrong, for being weak, but he had been distracted!"

"So now you're blaming the fiancé?"

"Initially I would," I scowled but shrugged. "But I don't know the circumstance. I know nothing, so I can't judge her. I still don't know who she is."

Kazuo shrugged. "You've changed."

I scoffed, "I know, its awful."

I then got up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving."

"Where to? What if they find out?"

"I can't stay here tonight," I shivered. "I can't stay in the same room as them all when I now know that they kept that information from me. They're all so selfish, trying to put me against my brother."

"So where will you go? It's Christmas!"

"The only person left that I know will help me."

Kazuo tugged of his leather jacket and chucked it at me. I gave him a weak smile and ran past him.

I fled the scene of the mafia's family Christmas. Fled from the fancy grounds as the snow started falling heavily around me. I ran through the estate's grounds till I got to my brother's bike and jumped on. Speeding away, I hoped that the bike could get through the snow.

Thankfully it did as I made my way through town, towards the large mansions on the outskirts. The snow was now fading, as if it had grown heavy due to my brother's anger that I didn't know about his fiancé in Italy.

I sped through the bad security of this mansions' driveway and jumped off my bike in front of the steps. I ran up the stone steps and got to the door large door. I stopped to compose myself before I rang the bell. A butler appeared and noticed who I was straight away, though he raised his eyebrow at my snowy appearance.

A minute later, Hoshi appeared at the door in a red 50s style swing dress. Her cheeks were red from warmth and she looked happy and smiley. Her family must have fun Christmases. Looking at the warm smile she gave me, I just, there and then, collapsed to my knees in front of her.

"Koray!" she gasped, "Are you alright? What are you doing here?!"  
  
  


 

** Hoshi **   
  


Considering the fact that I hadn't left my room in two weeks, to say I was surprised when Yuko burst through the door wearing a gaudy Christmas jumper and brandishing a small artificial Christmas tree, was an understatement.

"It's time to leave now!" she brushed everything on my dresser onto the floor and dumped the Christmas tree in their place. "Now put this on and meet me in the drawing room." And with that, she tossed me a matching Christmas jumper and left the room as quickly as she had arrived.

I sat there for a minute, processing what had just happened, before I pulled on the jumper and followed my energetic sister. A couple of maids were waiting outside the door. They bowed as I walked past before rushing into my room. I hadn't let any of them in for the entire two weeks, so I guessed they wanted to clean as quickly as possible, before I changed my mind about leaving.

The hallway was bedecked with tinsel and glimmering fake ice sculptures, that all appeared to be depicting Yuko with wings and a halo in various poses. I flicked a few as I went by, sniggering at some of the funnier poses. Yuko standing on a rock with her arms outstretched as though she was being worshipped was definitely my favourite. By the time I'd reached the stairs, I was almost doubled over in laughter, and was feeling better than I had in a long time.

"I thought you'd like them."

I jumped at the unexpected voice, almost tripping into one of the sculptures. Yuko slid around a nearby pillar, grinning from ear to ear.

"'Like' isn't really the word I'd use." But I was still snorting whilst I tried not to let on how much I wanted to laugh.

"Oh, is that so? Well then, you won't want to see the crème de la crème of the collection, will you?" She tilted her head towards me and scratched at her chin thoughtfully.

"The what?" I tried not to sound interested, but failed miserably. "Anyway, why are you here? What happened to the drawing room?" I quickly added, hoping to distract my sister from my previous question.

No such luck.

"Unforeseen circumstances little sis." She reached her hand forward to ruffle my hair. "Now follow me!" She took of running down the stairs, taking them two-at-a-time.

I sighed and followed her, figuring that it was easier to just go along with whatever she was doing. Arguing never got me anywhere. As we ran down the stairs I noticed that where the giant marble angel statue usually stood – in the centre of the entrance hall – there was instead a large object covered with a sheet. We reached the bottom of the stairs, and Yuko spun around and clapped her hands together.

"And here we are! The final masterpiece!" She spun around again, before grabbing the edge of the sheet and pulling it away.

A giant statue of Yuko stood where the angel should have been. It could be argued that the statue was actually an angel, as it was the same as the others in that Yuko had wings and a halo. The difference with this one however, was that it was about 20 feet high, and me, Mum and Dad appeared to be kneeling at her feet.

"Mum's gonna kill you." I pointed out.

"Nah. It's Christmas!"

"Wait." I grabbed her arm. "It's Christmas today?"

"Well, duh. I didn't drag you out of your room so that we could have a heart-to-heart. We have Christmas guests." Yuko motioned to the drawing room, where I noticed Mum was standing, watching us. Or more accurately, looking at the giant statue with a look of exasperation on her face.

"Who?" it had to be someone important if Mum wasn't following her yearly Christmas schedule.

Yuko just grinned and skipped over to join Mum in the drawing room. And just as I had done before, I followed her.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the room was that Dad was laughing. He wasn't always in a state of fear. In fact, there were times that he was almost the Dad I'd had when I was a kid. But I hadn't seen him laugh since I was about 10. He was shaking hands with a tall blonde guy. A tall blonde guy who looked incredibly familiar. A tall blonde guy who looked like Jessie. And on closer inspection I realised that it  _was_  Jessie. Whatever he'd said had really entertained my Dad.

"Hoshi?"

I jumped back, recognising the voice. Standing by the fireplace beside the door, was none other than Anzu. She was picking at her nails anxiously, and chewing at her lip.

"What are you doing here? Looking for Koray so you can try and kill all my friends?" I crossed my arms and turned away from her.

"Hoshi, listen. I didn't ever actually want to kill Hikaru. Just panic Koray and please my father." She took a step towards me, but I backed away.

"And why should I trust you?" I demanded.

"Because I saved your life!" She had raised her voice slightly and grabbed my arm before I could stop her. "I knew that Tsuneo would go for the painting and you when I noticed him sniffing around our mansion, but Dad wouldn't listen. Said I was being paranoid. So, I sent Jessie after him to keep an eye on you."

"Well... that's..." I fumbled for words.

"It's true Miss Kamiya." Jessie had heard what we were talking about and crossed the room to join in the conversation. "And I can personally back Miss Anzu up when she says that didn't want to kill your little ginger friend. I was at the smoothie bar as well with an epi-pen on hand if his couldn't be found or was administered wrong."

Anzu nodded her head frantically. "Yeah. I've known people who thought it was a good idea to stab it into the patient's neck, so I wanted Jessie to be on hand. He has a degree in medicine you know." She smiled slightly and gave Jessie an affectionate pat on the arm.

"He does?" I glanced at Jessie, not quite convinced.

"He does." Mum had joined us now as well. "And I'm grateful to him for saving my daughter" she nodded her head in his direction and he returned the gesture. "And to you Anzu, for looking out for her. I'm sorry our plan made you seem like a villain." And she nodded her head again, this time to Anzu.

" _Your_  plan?!" I all but yelled.

"Yep sister-sister. You were the only one outta the loop." Yuko was sprawled on the sofa, leaning on Dad's shoulder.

"So, wait. You were the ones who planned Hikaru's poisoning." I tried to push past them; didn't want to be in the same room as them.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Mum grabbed be by my shoulders and looked me dead in the eyes. "Your friend was always going to be alright. But Anzu wasn't if that didn't happen. Her family were being questioned by the Ketsueki Samejima. Someone needed to do something, and 'poisoning' the boy that Koray cared about was that thing."

Anzu sniffed, tears welling up in her eyes. I pulled away from Mum and crossed over to Anzu, wrapping her in a hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She kept whispering, over and over again.

I swept my eyes around the room, taking in my family and Jessie who were all staring at me. I made eye contact with Dad who nodded his head once. "I know. It wasn't your fault." I whispered back.

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Jessie and Anzu stayed for the rest of the morning, because, as Mum said, 'you can't kick people out at Christmas.' I'd opened the few presents I'd been given by the rest of the family, feeling bad the wholetime that I'd forgotten what day it was, and had therefore not got anyone any presents. Yuko had bought me a red 50s style swing dress, and I'd decided to wear it for Christmas dinner.

We were just sitting down when the doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?" My dad asked, looking around the table, but we all just shrugged.

I was seated between Anzu and Yuko, the three of us smiling and discussing what we were going to make our New Years Resolutions, when a butler rushed over to me.

"Miss Kamiya, it's your friend Koray. She's at the door." He whispered urgently.

I nodded to show that I understood, before quickly excusing myself from the table and making my way to the door. I didn't know why Koray was at my house, but I definitely wasn't expecting her to collapse to her knees the minute I smiled at her.

"Koray!" I gasped. "Are you alright? What are you doing here?!"

She just continued to sob on my doorstep.

"Are my smiles really that scary?"

This got a chuckle. She raised her head to show me red puffy eyes with tears rolling down her cheeks. "Things aren't great. I don't wanna talk about it. I just don't want to go home."

I offer her my hand and drag her to her feet. "That's alright, you can join us. It's Christmas after all."

I led her to the dining room where everyone was staring hungrily at their food, waiting for my return. I'd forgotten a key fact however.

"What the hell is  _she_  doing here?" Koray hissed angrily, motioning to Anzu.

Anzu stood up quickly, looking panicked. "Koray we need to talk. You don't know everything."

"I don't want to talk to you." Koray spat, turning to leave.

"Koray wait! You should listen to her." I tried not to sound panicky, realising at that moment just how much I wanted my two closest friends to get on again. "Trust me."

Koray stared at me for a few seconds, seemingly sizing me up, before turning back around and bowing to everyone at the table. "My name is Rikimaru Koray, I'm sorry I've intruded, but I have nowhere else to go."

"That's alright sweetie. Feel free to stay with us as long as you like." Dad smiled at her, motioning for a butler to set her a place at the table.

Koray slipped into the seat next to jessie at the end of the table, and we spent the meal explaining what had happened at the smoothie bar.

********************************************************************************

I somehow ended up sharing a room with Koray.

"You realise that we have plenty of spare rooms, right?" I grumbled, turning away from the light her phone was emitting as she lounged on my sofa.

"Yeah." She finally turned off her phone and plunged us both into darkness. "But it's big family time's like these that remind me of my brother, you know? And I don't want to be alone" Her voice sounded small in the all engulfing darkness.

I was reminded of Yuko, and how Akio's death had affected her as well. I sighed and dug my face into my pillow. "Does it bother you? Being around Anzu again?" I mumbled into the pillow, trying to steer the conversation away from Rikimaru Akio.

"I guess, a bit." She sighed. "But I know why now. So, it's like I'm still angry, because you know, she tried to kill Hikaru. But, at the same time, I know that she would have been in danger herself if she hadn't done what she did, so can I really blame her?"

"She's a friend. And at the moment, it seems like you need as many of those as you can get."

"Maybe." She sounded resigned. "Hey Hoshi?"

"Hmm."

"Merry Christmas."

"And a Happy New year!"

"I'm relatively sure you're supposed to just say Merry Christmas back!"

And we both dissolved into giggles.


End file.
